Living Organism

As Firefox takes a nearly 45% market share in world-wide browser usage, it is critical to understand why we are still building our web sites to work in multiple browser environments. Here at Vitamin, we test for the major players: Firefox 3+, Safari 3+ and IE6+. We use Firefox as our benchmark specifically because of their commitment to best practices on the web and reliable Mac / PC functionality (known as cross-platform compliancy). We also test for Safari, as it is the native browser for Apple’s OS X operating system. It is also a highly reliable browser when it comes to web standards and consistency in how HTML pages are rendered. Lastly, we test for Internet Explorer 6 and higher. Internet Explorer is native to the Windows operating system. It is notorious for being “buggy” and having little commitment to web standards (though each subsequent release does improve upon the last). However, since IE accounts for another 45% of the market, we make sure our web sites look great in IE too.

On the surface, cross-browser testing ensures that the client gets a final product that actually works in all or most Internet scenarios. Ultimately, however, cross-browser testing ensures brand consistency and a consistent user experience.

When developing a web site for a client, it is our goal to understand the client’s needs and to then design a solution that fulfills those needs. Whether those needs entail the extension of their existing brand, or a new brand in development, the final web design solution must integrate seamlessly with the Internet. By testing in multiple browsers on both the Mac and the PC, we are able to help the client first maintain a commitment to their brand as follows:

1. Consistent delivery of content.
2. Consistent visual representation of content.
3. Ease of use.

Secondly, and just as important, by maintaining testing standards for browser and platform compliancy, Vitamin clients (and their clients) can expect an organized, beautiful and highly navigable web site that works properly on the Mac as well as on the PC in all major browsers used by each operating system.

If you are unsure if your site works in all possible environments, or if you are unsure your current web development team has the capacity for this type of final product, please reach out to us. We will review your site at no cost and explain to you in plain language what we find that can be improved upon. Simply reply to this post or contact me at 410-732-6542.