Klamath Design

Webdesign business startup tips for new web design entrepreneurs.

  • Daily Work Schedules
  • Free Sample Service Invoice For Web Design Businesses
  • Guard Your Small Business Management Time
  • Queen Anne’s Lace and Chickory – Sketchbook Ink and Watercolor
  • Don’t Price Web Design Services Too Low
  • Art Every Day – Productivity Over Perfection
  • Blog Combining to Make Life Easier
  • Mastermind Your Web Design Business
  • Home
  • Adventures in Creativity
  • Webdesign Business
Welcome to the Klamath Design website.

A Browser Collection: What A Web Designer Really Needs

December 11, 2010 :: by Linda Jo Martin

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?

Every web designer needs a browser collection because when you're creating a web site for a client, you need to know it looks good no matter what kind of browser or operating system readers are using.

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.

There are many browsers and operating systems available. A good web design should be tested on as many as possible to be sure it displays correctly no matter what a reader is using. http://www.klamathdesign.com/a-browser-collection-what-a-webdesigner-really-needs/

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).

Beautiful web design - a good overview of layout, composition, color, texture, imagery, and typography.
It may come naturally to you to
create amazing, beautiful web designs,
but in this business, there’s always
more to learn. This is a good overview
of the aesthetics of quality web design.
Buy at Amazon.

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.
 

Similar Posts:

  • Firefox or Chrome – Which Do You Use?
  • Marketing Plan – Part One: Choose Your Core Services
  • A New CMS Site, NaNoWriMo, and Web Surfing Finds
  • Marketing Plan – Part Two: How Will Your Core Services Benefit Your Clients?
  • How to Use Pinterest to Promote Your Webdesign Business

Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Linkedin

Filed Under: Webdesign Business Tagged With: Browsers, Operating Systems, Resolutions

Comments

  1. Ashley says

    December 14, 2010 at 7:02 am

    Thank you for this article! Good to know others have had this problem 🙂

My Art Articles at HubPages

  • Colorful Bullet Journal Border Art
  • 365 Prompts for Art, Journaling, or Creative Writing
  • Gifts for Watercolor Artists

About Me

Hi! I'm Linda Jo Martin, an artist in training. Formerly I was a xhtml/css web designer. This used to be my webdesign business site. Since I retired I've preserved the old articles about webdesign business issues but transformed the site for my adventures in creativity. This includes art, writing, and whatever else comes up in the creativity sector of life. I also review books. I'll review art books here, but my main site for book reviews is Linda Book Lady.

To receive emailed updates, enter your email address here:


  • Legal Notices

Hello – I’m going to use this corner of the universe to tell you how happy I am that you stopped by to visit my site. This website has been a long-term project for me. I started my webdesign business back around 2002 and used it to supplement my meager income while my children were growing up. What a joy it was to be able to earn some money and help support the family! However now my children are adults and I’m retired. I still live in the Klamath River Valley here in far-northern California. My heart and thoughts have turned to art, something I saved for my retirement years. I call myself an artist in training, but truly, I think artistry training should never end.

You can find me on Pinterest

Follow Linda Jo Martin's board Blog Creation Tips on Pinterest.

Tags

art studio Blogging Browsers Business Business Cards Business Planning Chrome Clients CMS creativity Design Ideas Difficulties Firefox flowers folk art FTP Goals Habits Ideas Impress Income Inspiration Letting Go Marketing Marketing Plan Mission Statements Money NaNoWriMo Networking Operating Systems Resolutions sketchbook art Social Bookmarking Social Media Startups Strategy Time Time Management Webdesign Webdesign Business Webdesign Galleries Webdesign Inspiration Websites WordPress writing
Copyright © 2023