By: Brad smith
Web Design: Cross Browser Compatibility An important aspect of web

design today is making sure it is compatible with all the major web

browsers. There are literally hundreds of web browsers in use around

the world. All of them implement the W3C document standards a little

differently.

What is Cross Browser Compatibility?

If a web page is completely cross-browser compatible, it will look more

or less the same in all of the existing web browsers. The most popular

browsers right now are Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari and Opera.

Right now Internet Explorer holds the largest market share, however its

lead is being steadily eroded by the rising popularity of Firefox and

Safari, making the Cross Browser Compatibility increasingly important.

Each one of these browser implements HTML, JavaScript and Cascading

Style Sheets (CSS) slightly differently. Some only create cosmetic

differences others can cause the web page to break down. The

situation is made worse by each browser being free to implement their

own unique features to the W3C document standards that will most likely

at work in otherbrowsers.

Then to compound matters even more the underlying operating systems

also creates difference in how the computer displays graphical elements

and text differently.

When you add the fact that people are also using multiple versions of

each of the browsers, no wonder web designers get headaches.

So what is a web designer to do?

Creating a website that is completely compatible with all potential

browsersis, obviously, impossible. However it is possible to design

your website so it will work in the most commonly used browsers. To

achieve this, a designer must write
Web Design
code that conforms to the W3C

standards to get consistent results across all browsers. The whole idea

behind the standards is that if each browser adheres to the same set of

rules, you will get more or less consistent results in all of the

existing browsers. Conforming can be a real challenge. It will

limit some of the neater effects available in specific browsers. There

are online code validators available. The validator checks your code

based on the DOCTYPE you specify on the webpage. The DOCTYPE tells the

browser which version of HTML or CSS the web page is using. At the end

of the day, even code that is validated may not work correctly in all

the major browsers. The best way a web designer can create cross browser

compatibility is through extensive testing across all major web

browsers and operating systems. Overall there has been an attitude

shift towards more compatibility in general and having compatibility

across all browsers is now expected in basic web design.

written by Matt Dible

web design Lancashire-web site design Manchester-web design manchester.