You work hard to create a fantastic webdesign for your client, then get told it looks terrible. Why oh why? It looks GREAT on your computer. But she insists something’s wrong. Could it be she’s looking at it with a different browser or operating system?
It happens all the time. One browser displays a site to perfection and another shows it as being wonky to the max. What should the persistent and dedicated webdesigner do?
Test the site on all browsers.
During the time I worked as a webdesigner I collected a variety of browsers to test my websites. I never use Internet Explorer anymore unless I need to see a site through the IE filter. Occasionally this is quite different than what I find with Firefox or Chrome. When you test with lesser-used browsers like Opera, Flock, or SeaMonkey, the problems can add up. Web surfers are easily frustrated by reaching sites that are incompatible with their browser, screen resolution, or operating system.
There are such a wide variety of browsers available these days it is nearly impossible to own them all. That’s one reason why it is helpful to find a webdesigner’s group to bounce new designs off of. For example, you could ask someone using a Mac with Safari to check your design for you. If there’s something wonky, hopefully your online friend will send you a screenshot of the problem.
Browsers and operating systems vary, but a web designer should be aware of them all.
Since you can’t own all browsers or all operating systems (or maybe you can… but most of us can’t) you might get some use out of an online utility like Browser Shots. You can request screenshots as seen by a variety of browsers on four different operating systems: Linus, Windows, Mac, and BSD. It will also check the page with different screen sizes enabled. How cool is that?
Net Renderer is a similar however more limited service. It enables you to see your site on a variety of Internet Explorer versions. Many webdesigners find that helpful because when you upgrade Internet Explorer it overwrites the older versions.
If you want premium service you might be interested in subscribing to CrossBrowserTesting, definitely worthwhile – where for $29.95/mo. you can get 150 minutes monthly to use their live browser testing via remote VNC sessions that include flash, javascript and ajax functions. This is definitely a valuable utility that took many hours to develop, so I can understand why they made it a fee-based service. A one-week free trial is available along with more costly levels of service up to 3000 minutes per month.
What if you see something wonky that you don’t like? Well, check recent web browser usage statistics.
In June 2015 64.8% of web surfers used Chrome. I would definitely optimize for that browser!
7.1% were using Internet Explorer. Your client probably was too… so definitely, optimize for that browser.
28.3% of the people used Firefox. Definitely, you must optimize for Firefox (my current favorite browser).
3.8% used Safari and 1.8% used Opera. Do you care about optimizing for them? Well, I’d definitely run tests for those systems, but I wouldn’t spend hours and hours trying to fix a small wonk unless my client insisted on it. Large wonks involving legibility issues, I’d work on.
Ever heard of The Anybrowser Campaign? Their Accessible Design Guide should be required reading for any prospective webdesigner. Remember, you’re not designing only for people with IE on a PC with the Flash turned on. Your clients want their information available for everyone on the web, and they have a right to expect that.
Browsers
Chrome – Google’s browser.
Edge – For Windows 10 – no longer downloadable.
Firefox – Trusted, flexible, and fast.
Internet Explorer – For older Windows operating systems.
Opera – The fast, safe browser.
Safari – For Apple computers.
Thank you for this article! Good to know others have had this problem 🙂