Cross-Browser Compatibility- Its Importance

A web developer’s job today is an extremely complex one. Between the specifications stated by marketers and the tests conducted by UX designers, every web developer should consider the cross-browser compatibility of his or her website at some point. Cross-browser compatibility is the ability of a website, program, or script to support multiple web browsers in the same way. This is an important issue because there are multiple web browsers available today, each with its own set of standards.

People must understand that cross-browser compatibility is related to a site’s functioning rather than its appearance. This means that the site should perform equally well in a variety of online contexts. Every website owner should guarantee that their website or applications are cross-browser compatible. Let’s look at some details on Cross-Browser Compatibility.

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Why it is Important?

When creating a website, keep in mind that it will be presented by many browsers, which may run on various operating systems and possibly on devices other than typical desktop – think tablets or smartphones.

It is safe to assume that popular browsers such as Firefox, Safari, Chrome, Opera, and Internet Explorer control the majority of the Internet market share. If you create a website that is incompatible with one of those and just collapses, you will lose visitors, popularity, and rank in search engines. And no one wants to be subjected to such tragedy, which is why you should ensure that your website always looks amazing and that you have complete control over its performance in all browsers and contexts.

Cross-Browser Compatibility Test

There are numerous free and commercial browser compatibility testing programs available on the market. The following are some well-known tools:

•  BrowserShots
•  IE Tester
•  Adobe Browser Lab
• CrossBrowserTesting
• Microsoft Expression Web SuperView

Before you start to worry about your website’s cross-browser compatibility, you should see how it looks in different browsers. Perhaps there will be nothing to worry about in the end? There are numerous smart tools available on the internet that were created specifically for this purpose.

First, have a look at Adobe Browser Lab, a specialized application that provides on-demand screenshot viewing, showing you how your website is viewed by different browsers, allowing you to detect any unwanted modifications or problems right away. 

Try Browser shots, a web-based service that allows you to see your web designs in a variety of browsers. Brow’s camp may also be of interest because it evaluates your website on browsers running on the Mac OS operating system.

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How Can We Assure Cross-Browser Compatibility?

Cross-browser compatibility is a vital part of website development. As a result, the following points must be considered while building a site in order for it to be successful and consistently displayed across all web browsers.

Keeping the Website Simple 

One can avoid excessive use of elements in the markup coding such as usage of list elements (ul, ol) for creating menus instead of p elements.

Website Code Validation

A validator can be used to verify HTML and CSS coding before publishing the site since it will be quite difficult to sort out any invalid code.

Development in Just One Browser

When designing a website, it is beneficial to test it with only one browser at a time, such as Firefox. Firefox is highly adaptable in every way. Once you are satisfied with the findings of one browser, you can test additional browsers such as Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Safari, Opera, and so on.

Solutions for Cross-Browser Compatibility

Some developers prefer to simply suggest the best browser to use to see the page — they place a ‘This website looks best in a box somewhere on the page and hope that people will take their advice. Unfortunately, they almost never do. It’s not your duty to ask people to spend additional effort; you’re the one who makes things easy for them in the first place.

Experts advise starting with a solid template and gradually building your way up, this way, you can ensure that your website runs well on both ancient and current browsers.

Consider this: instead of attempting to provide the same experience to all users, try gradually improving your website and offering a richer UI exclusively to users with contemporary browsers. Aside from that, there are other tools available to help you check for problems and minimize files, such as Uglify, HTML validators, GruntJS, and CSS validators.

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Regardless of your coding language, you’ll enjoy a range of tools on the web to help you develop websites that agree to common standards and work well across multiple web browsers and devices. It is up to you whether you use them and ensure that your website is properly optimized to run on a variety of browsers.