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Keeping the Peace in the Browser Wars

September 9th, 2009

By Matt Cook
Point.Click Media

Over the past, oh lets say, couple million years or so, while orbiting around a giant fireball and surrounded by various vacuums and vortices that could suck your face out through your nether regions, mankind has come across some very important discoveries. One of mankind’s greatest achievements is simply realizing that some things just don’t get along like cats and dogs, socks and sandals, or Internet Explorer and… anything.

Yes, it’s the browser wars. Microsoft, Apple, Firefox, and even Google are all fighting for your love like the divorced parents of a child TV star and it’s up to you, Doogie Howser, to please them all. Every browser is created with a built-in rendering engine that deciphers your website’s code and places the items within the page the way it sees fit for you, the user, to see.

Thank you Captain Obvious… So where’s the problem?

The problem is that every browser reads a website differently. Not every browser’s rendering engine is created to read code in the same manner, so when you place your logo in the top corner of your homepage and it looks great on your Mac, it’s quite possible that someone still using Internet Explorer 6 on a Toshiba laptop is seeing something quite different – that being a broken image or page. To quote the great Wile E. Coyote:

coyote

Platform independence also extends beyond desktop computers and laptops. The market for mobile devices is growing quickly and with them comes new browser challenges. The iPhone and iPod Touch together are now the 3rd largest web browsing device in the world. Then you have cellphones, Blackberries, Palm Pilots… the list goes on. It’s imperative that your customers get the information they need, regardless of where they are or what they’re using to find you. You certainly don’t want to alienate any part of your demographic. Here’s an example of what can happen when foregoing cross-browser testing:

platform01

platform02

So how do I avoid this?

By planning, designing and developing your website with browser compatibility in mind, it ensures that your users see exactly what they are meant to see. Is it necessary to test for every browser on earth? Not only would that be highly impractical, but nearly impossible. There are literally hundreds, if not thousands of browsers out there.  However, as of July 2009, the percentage of users worldwide outside of Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari (for Mac & iPhone), Google Chrome and Opera is 1.2%, hardly worth all of the extra headaches. Budget for the big 5 and you’ll be set.

So now that you’ve saved yourself hours of banging your head against the wall wondering why you’ve been getting calls about your broken website that looks fine to you, why don’t we sit down and watch a little television. Doogie Howser is on. It’s that episode where Doogie passes one test to get his driver’s license, but needs to pass another when he treats a critically ill boy. We’ve got the remote and the popcorn. Contact Point.Click Media.

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Posted in Tips and Tricks on September 9th, 2009

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