Lesson 9

* Testing Your browser * Using different browser tools * Using conditional comments with * Dealing with future compatibility problems

* This lesson will demonstrate that the web site that you create will ultimately look slightly different in different browsers. * How important will it be to ensure a uniform look in all browsers will depend on your budget and time. * You will also learn some techniques to fix browser issues.

* Browser compatibility in web design could be described as the browser default rules & your written rules accepting one another/being compatible with one another, which will result in your pages being displayed how you designed them to be displayed.

* This lesson demonstrates one of the more important aspects of web design, although not necessarily one of the most interesting! * Throughout the history of World Wide Web there have always been differences between different browsers (Netscape, Safari, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Yahoo, Google, Chrome) and there will always continue to be differences.

* The goal here is not to achieve 100% consistency across all browsers but to make sure that layouts are similar enough to provide the user a consistent experience on most modern browsers. Because it is probably impossible to achieve 100% consistency across all browsers except for very simple layouts. * * *

The role of the client in the real world The need to have layouts look the same across all browsers often comes from the clients or customers who hire web designers. In the following exercise, you will be playing the role of a client and the web designer and THEN reverse the roles. In this scenario the designer has just presented the final version of his/her site (in your case, you will be presenting your version of lesson 8 website )and the client has just noticed that on Internet Explorer 6, the site is not broken but looks different than on another browser.

Client: Why doesn’t my website look the same on Internet Explorer 6(IE6)? Designer: This browser is almost 10 years old and the number of users is dropping every day. Even Microsoft is encouraging users to change. Let me show you how much IE6 is in decline and very few computers are actually using IE6. Designer visits this site – and show the client how very few people might be accessing the site via IE6www.ie6countdown.com Client: But I have paid so much money

Designer: With the budget you have given us, we can choose to spend our time on making the site work on modern browsers and mobile devices or we can spend the item making the site work on an older browser. But with our budget, we can not do both. Client: But my website will not look the same across all browsers Designer: A website does not have to look 100% the same across all browsers. From the customer’s perspective, as long as their experience is the same they will never know the difference.

Now both of you visit 1/24/how-to-remain-productive-when- working-with-clients/ 1/24/how-to-remain-productive-when- working-with-clients/ And read about the importance of the customer relations. Remember - No matter how good a coder/designer you are, you will not succeed if the you can not built a good relationship with the client and keep them happy.