jQuery's mobile strategy can be summarized simply: A unified user interface system that works seamlessly across all popular mobile device platforms, built on the rock-solid jQuery and jQuery UI foundation. Focused on a feature-rich but lightweight codebase built on progressive enhancement with a flexible theming system and ThemeRoller tool.
The framework includes an Ajax navigation system that brings animated page transitions and a core set of UI widgets: pages, dialogs, toolbars, listviews, buttons with icons, form elements, accordions, collapsibles, and more.
The critical difference with our approach is the wide variety of mobile platforms we're targeting with jQuery Mobile so no browser or device is left behind. We've also focused on making jQuery Mobile easy to learn with a simple, markup-based system to applying behavior and theming. For more advanced developers, there is a rich API of global configuration options, events, and methods to apply scripting, generate dynamic pages, and even build native apps with tools like PhoneGap.
To make this broad support possible, all pages in jQuery Mobile are built on a foundation of clean, semantic HTML to ensure compatibility with pretty much any web-enabled device. In devices that interpret CSS and JavaScript, jQuery Mobile applies progressive enhancement techniques to unobtrusively transform the semantic page into a rich, interactive experience that leverages the power of jQuery and CSS. Accessibility features such as WAI-ARIA are tightly integrated throughout the framework to provide support for screen readers and other assistive technologies.