Are you finding a website created as well as your web designer has been speaking about cross browser compatibility with you? Have you been unsure about what it is and exactly what it actually signifies to you? If this describes the truth then keep reading and we will try to describe the case to you.
Firstly, let us consider browsers, what are they? Simply they're the tool that you use to surf the web and view webpages. Most of us whenever we get yourself a computer find we've Internet Explorer (Probably the most popular browser) installed on our computer and definately will utilize this without considering it. However a few large number of browsers available which you can use and so are used. Here are the top 10 browser usage statistics as of 31 August 2008 as determined by w3counter.com:
Internet Explorer 6.0 29.91%
Internet Explorer 7.0 28.55%
Firefox 2.0 21.20%
Firefox 3.0 7.41%
Firefox 1.5 2.31%
Safari 3.0 1.14%
Opera 9.2 1.00%
Safari 2.0 0.66%
Opera 9.5 0.55%
Firefox 1.0 0.48%
It's clear to see that Web browser has the largest share of the marketplace, but Firefox now is the reason around 30% of browser usage and is also growing.
Why is this important for you as a website owner? Well the key reason can it be is quite crucial that the site not only works in Internet Explorer but it also works in the other browsers otherwise you is going to be alienating around 40% of everyone on the internet.
Exactly why is this not as self-explanatory since it seems? Basically all browsers have slightly different standards, which means that your website will be needing to be coded in such a way as to ensure it displays properly and works in all of the key browsers. Believe it or not there is even a difference in standards between Ie 6.0 and Internet Explorer 7.0.
This is something you will need to consult with your web designer to ensure they may be testing your website across all major browsers to makes it cross browser compatible. If this isn't being carried out you might end up with a significant problem.
One area to concentrate on is always that of W3C compliance. They are a group of standards that have been implemented to ensure all websites are coded to a high standard and so are accessible. There is an excellent amount of work done to make certain that all browsers abide by W3C standards, however they all implement the principles in a slightly different way. Exactly what does this suggest for web-site designers? Well, basically this means a website will have to be created to W3C standards after which once this is achieved tested in the main browsers to see where the problems are and then a set of fixes done to the code to ensure you could make use of site in all browsers.
That is something all web-site designers needs to be doing and not blindly holding on to W3C compliance without having done the mandatory checks. We recommend you generally go through this issue along with your web designer and when possible take a look at your website in the top 4 browsers to view it is still working and appears right. If you notice any major differences of problems return to your internet designer and insist on the truth that they repair. Remember without it you will be losing valuable business.
If you found this article useful, check out what we can offer you with regards to web site design. Otherwise feel free to e mail us to discuss your project.
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