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Have you tested your website across all browsers, or better yet, did you design your website with cross-browser continuity in mind? If not, it's something worth checking. There are many detail differences between browsers resulting in variation of what you will see from browser to browser. This ranges from slight alignment issues to menus not working or even pages not being visible at all! The statisticsSo, how many browsers are used by the masses and which are dominant? We took at our own online statistics from last month, choosing a large client to give a good indication. Although not conclusive, we feel it is a good representation of browser use here in the UK.
This compares to 2008's statistics from the same month.
The statistics clearly show Internet Explorer is far and away the most dominant web browser. Forgetting Internet Explorer however, it's worth noting relatively large market share growth with Google's Chrome browser. It may be slow, but Mozilla's Firefox has also taken a small bite out of Internet Explorer too. The problemsThe main problems occur with old, outdated websites. When Internet Explorer was more or less the only browser around, many website designers didn't realise that it smoothed over any problems. Now, with accessibility in mind, browsers have become stricter based on agreed standards. The result of this is older websites might not be visible on the likes of Mozilla Firefox. Display issues can occur with modern websites too. Utilising Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) for layout is beneficial for accessibility and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), but being so new it can prove problematic in achieving cross-browser continuity. If your website is built in CSS, there should be coding 'hacks' to compensate for this, otherwise your website may be in the same boat as a 10 year old one! The biggest problem with browser display issues is that it will guarantee people will leave your website within seconds. Almost each visitor carries a cost, be it from Pay Per Click advertising, SEO or a magazine advert. It's simply money down the drain. The solutionWhen building a website, bear in mind the W3C's best practice guidelines. There is also the PAS 78 guide for website accessibility best practice too. By building a fully validated website, you can ensure you have the best chance of converting visitors into customers.
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