The software development market is growing at a high speed, and so are the number of web and mobile applications, browsers, devices, and operating systems. Users today have more options to access their websites and don’t depend on a single browser or device, preferring to use only those that offer them a better experience.
The average bounce rate of website visitors, as per Forbes, is 41 to 55%. Unattractive content, issues like poor display, and other factors are the main reasons for such user behavior. This makes it crucial for web app and website developers to ensure that they are compatible across all browsers and provide a uniform user experience. The best way to do that is to perform thorough web app testing using the best cross-browser testing tools to ensure that the applications perform consistently, regardless of the platform or browser.
This blog will examine the obstacles that come in the way of browser compatibility and the possible solutions to tackle them.
Browser Compatibility Issues and Solutions to Overcome Them
Let us determine the challenges to cross-browser compatibility and list out the possible solutions:
1. Maintaining layout compatibility
Ideally, an application should be responsive and work optimally on all browsers and their versions. The application’s layout should be perfect and standard in all the environments where it may be used. However, layout compatibility issues may arise because some layouts are not supported by modern browsers. Sometimes, the layout design may render differently in the latest browser versions.
Possible solutions:
- With the help of CSS Multi-column layouts, you can enable the maintenance of the proper layout of multiple-column content as per the container’s layout
- Use CSS Flexbox and Grid to lay out child elements based on their content and the available rendering space
2. Support for the application’s basic features
You need to cross-check the application for providing the native features across a range of browsers. In case a browser does not support the code, then the application should be able to provide a different code set that will run on that particular border.
Possible solutions:
- Use feature detection to safeguard the application against a scenario where the browser doesn’t support the code.
- Create your own feature detection code for JavaScript and CSS
- Use Polyfill or other feature detection libraries like Modernize
3. Using separate style sheets for different browsers
With more and more styles entering the picture, stylesheets tend to get unstructured and bulky, ultimately turning into a mess. Moreover, it is challenging to maintain all the styles that cater to different browsers.
Possible solutions:
- Keep the styles separate for each browser style supported by the website.
- After separation, they can be included in the same HTML page using conditional comments that help invoke the appropriate stylesheet for the right browser type
4. Utilize cross-browser-friendly frameworks and libraries
Websites comprise of different third-party libraries and frameworks that help developers bring scalability, structure, and security to their web applications. The wrong library options can lead to many cross-browser compatibility issues that can even lead to the crashing of the complete framework.
Possible solutions:
- Use only popular and reliable frameworks that are cross-browser friendly, like React JS or Angular JS
- Use trusted libraries like Animate or Bootstrap
5. CSS resets
Every browser has a design layout by default that is applied to the website. If any website has to implement its own layout, the fault must be overridden. Otherwise, a website will render differently on different browsers.
Possible solutions:
- The websites rendered must be reset to the same basics using the CSS reset style sheet. By adding the style sheet, you can avoid any layout design issues.
- Many developers use style sheets like HTML.5 Reset or Eric Meyers CSS Reset.
6. Validate CSS and HTML
Every browser reads, interprets, and handles code in different ways. It is common for developers to omit certain closing tags or semicolons in the syntax while writing code. The problem happens when older browsers do not auto-correct these syntax errors, leading to rendering problems.
Possible solutions:
- Add comments at the appropriate places
- Write code that is well-aligned
7. Not conducting cross-browser testing early
Another reason for browser compatibility is the failure of developers to conduct cross-browser testing early in the development process. Since many developers put off cross-browser testing till the final stage of development, many issues crop up that are difficult and expensive to fix.
Possible solutions:
- Conduct cross-browser testing the moment one page of your application is completed.
- Use reliable automated cross-browser testing tools that are known for their efficiency in detecting browser compatibility issues.
8. Avoiding testing applications on real devices
Though virtual test environments are effective to some extent and cost-effective, they cannot replicate some features that real devices have. If you test your web apps only on such virtual devices, it can lead to compatibility issues later on.
Possible solutions:
- Conduct real-device testing and test your apps across a wide range of physical devices, ranging from the latest models to the older versions.
- Use a real device farm that is cloud-based, offering easy access to thousands of real devices and browsers for cross-browser testing.
Conclusion
It is impossible for any website developer to rule out bugs entering into the application. The only way they can ensure the detection of browser compatibility issues and detect issues is to perform cross-browser testing at the early stages of the development process. This has to be done. using reliable and secure cross-browser testing tools, which are cloud-based and provide easy access to thousands of real devices and browsers.
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