The creation of a web theme that is unique and “infallible” is often challenging for any web designer. Even something simple can be a nightmare, as pages can appear differently in distinct browsers and devices. This is why testing designs before unleashing them to the World Wide Web is important, and why cross-browser testing is essential for web designers these days.
Today we see an increase in the amount of available operating systems and browsers to choose from. Unfortunately, what looks good on one device and browser may not look good in other. To have a successful web theme or a website, it is very important to make your designs look good in all the browsers.
Start Verifying From Day One
Starting the design of a website on a single browser can lead to problems farther down in the development cycle. It is possible that, when viewing the site on another browser, issues and bugs will arise. Solving all of them is hard, because each browser is different.
In order to solve this problem, it is essential to verify the website’s structure on all browsers, starting from day one. This will assure that, on each step of the way, the structure works on all browsers. By itself, this eliminates a big chunk of the possible problems altogether.
Looks, Responsiveness and Performance Are Essential
Nothing destroys a website’s professionalism quicker than a poor performance in a browser. Making it work in the browser of a specific OS may impress its users, but that is worthless if the website fails in other browsers. A website that is unable to maintain the same basic layout on all devices is amateurish and unpleasant for visitors.
Fine-tuning a layout to look great on desktop and mobile browsers alike is not easy, but it must be done. In a time where most web browsing is made on mobile devices (vs desktop computers), responsive design is essential. Not doing so will undermine the possibilities of widespread acceptance, missing a huge market.
A web design that is not properly tested will lead to issues – loading times are a great example. An optimized website will perform better and, as we know, one second of additional loading time can kill the visitors’ interest. For a big site or platform, even a small period of loading delay can have huge costs.
Security Matters, Too
Additionally, bypassing cross-browser testing can cause obvious security flaws that put you and your followers at risk. Cross-site scripts or XSS vulnerabilities often result from JavaScript or markup errors, which can easily be resolved through testing. Countless data leaks result from these easily prevented security flaws, and they could easily be avoided with tests performed by experienced web developers.
Fully testing a website for compatibility with each browser seems like a daunting task. And, in truth, it really would be, without using one of the numerous cross-browser testing tools available nowadays. These tools allow any designer or programmer to thoroughly analyze their designs (and code, of course) for failures, ensuring their maximum performance regardless of the browser they are shown on and increasing their security.