As per statistics, the number of active internet users has become 4.66 billion and mobile internet users are up to 4.28 billion in 2020. This shows the revolutionary increment in the digital population compared to the initial 90’s era. Now out of this, some users are dependent on their systems default browser and others are on Google Chrome, Opera, UC Browser, Firefox, etc. So, the ultimate solution is developing a website in such a way so it works up to its maximum extent with most of the browsers to get cross-browser compatibility.
Let’s find out ‘ why cross-browser compatibility is important’.
Suppose you are making a website. You have done coding as per your favourite browser. It consists of all the latest JavaScript and frameworks with amazing CSS3 styling. When you test your website, it functions very effectively with exceptional visual transitions in your favourite browser. Is it the same with other browsers? No, because it is perfect only for your ‘ favourite browser’, not all.
Here comes the cross-browser compatibility to give a smooth user experience on your favourite browser as well as other browsers like Microsoft Edge, UC Browser, Firefox, Safari, Opera mini, etc. Now It’s time to explore “How”. Here’s a complete guide to cross browser testing if you’d like to explore more about it in detail.
Steps to get a cross-browser compatible website
To attain a uniform performance in all browsers, go with the following detailed steps to make a cross-browser compatible website.
Add Doctype to HTML
We often see browsers mismanage some elements even after finishing their loading. Well, in technical language it is telling you to add the DOCTYPE in your HTML file.
But why do we need DOCTYPE in HTML? It is the way to inform browsers about the code language of your website. This helps some dumb browsers to identify the language of your website, which enhances the cross-browser compatibility of your website.
So, just add a strict doctype, which is very easy. If you want to write declaration type for HTML5 (Yeah, the latest version) then just use the below code:
<!DOCTYPE html>
This will make sure that your website will not get stuck on elements in browsers that fail to identify code automatically.
Apply CSS Reset
Whether most of your traffic uses Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or any other browser which has less market share like Microsoft edge. All the browsers have their own CSS rule which is why the same website will load differently in different browsers. Applying CSS reset will eliminate issues with the elements which are not appearing properly in other browsers.
So, set a basic CSS styling platform to get cross-browser compatibility. You can use Normalize.css which has a standardized set of rules or use renowned Eric Meyer’s CSS reset.
But, how to add CSS reset? Well, it’s like a cakewalk, just download the CSS reset file you are preferring and include that before your main stylesheet in the header.
Prefer browser-specific CSS code for your website
Include separate stylesheets for different browsers if you want to get rid of the rendering issue up to the maximum extent. But how to write CSS for different browsers? Well, it just requires a bit of conditional coding (Some ‘if’), This simple heck will let Chrome, Firefox, Safari, IE, and others render as per its browser compatibility CSS code. It depends on you for how many browsers you have set the browser-specific CSS to get cross-browser compatibility. You can try WebKit CSS extensions for all browser applications.
Prefer common libraries and frameworks to get cross-browser compatibility
JavaScript libraries and CSS frameworks are popular in the market. There are various JavaScript and frameworks which are set up by following common criteria which makes them compatible with most browsers. Like, Foundation, Bootstrap, and ReactJS are some most used coding elements.
Use JavaScript libraries and CSS frameworks in the coding of your website which is friendly to cross-browser. J-scripts like jQuery, AngularJS, ReactJS, MooTools including bootstrap, foundation, etc. Do go through the complete documentation of the library and framework before using it.
Check out your code!
Once you are done with all the coding, just head on to validate your website to check the error. HTML, CSS, and w3 validators are some of the common error finders. Debug your HTML code to make your website stronger and unbreakable.
Perform Cross Browser Compatibility Testing
Now the ultimate step is to do cross-browser testing to check cross-browser compatibility. Without performing cross-browser compatibility testing you can’t be sure your website is doing well or not on all browsers.
With Testsigma, you can write difficult code in plain English which makes it friendly for non-coders as well. The latest AI features infused in Testsigma provides a high-tech environment to work with different OS, browsers, and devices. Integration is one of its plus points as it supports continuous as well as third-party integration.
Besides, the Testsigma cloud will let you test cross-browser compatibility easily. Its parallel testing capability will save a lot of your time. Various cross-browser testing challenges can be overcome using an automated cross-browser testing tool like Testsigma.