Scrollable elements on Mobile websites

Why are inline scrollbars hard to use on mobile?

In page scrollbars are best to be avoided on mobile phones. A scrollable element is not a user friendly way to present information because it is hard to read the content easily.

Avoid inline scrollable areas on a mobile website (and ultimately on desktop as well) because:

1. No visible scrollbar
2. Hijacking page scroll

1) No visible scrollbar

Some browsers on mobile phones show no scrollbars. Only when you interact with an element you see a scrollbar.

Try to remove the scrolling elements if possible. An alternative is to give the user visual information that the element is scrollable.

2) Hijacking page scroll

A scrollable element that is too large makes it hard to scroll the parent scrollable element. The problem often is that the page scroll is hijacked by the inner scroll area.