12 Chapter 1 – Designing for a Variety of BrowsersKnowing Your Audience
Web Design in a Nutshell, eMatter EditionHTML Editors as Validators
Browser compatibility databases and HTML validators are beginning to work their
way into HTML authoring tools as well. GoLive Cyberstudio (Mac-only; seehttp://
http://www.golive.com/) provides a complete database of all the HTML tags and their
browser-support information.
Even more useful is Macromedia Dreamweaver’s “Check Target Browsers” feature.
Authors specify which browsers they are targeting with their site design (Netscape
2.0, 3.0, and 4.0; and Internet Explorer 2.0, 3.0, and 4.0) and Dreamweaver runs a
check to see if any tags or attributes in the document are not supported by the
target browser(s). For more information on Dreamweaver, seehttp://www.macro-
media.com/.Knowing Your Audience
As with most design challenges, making appropriate decisions regarding which
browsers to support and which new technologies to adopt largely depends on
knowing your audience. Before designing a new site, be sure to spend plenty of
time up front researching the likely platforms, browsers, technical savvy, and
connection speeds of the users you are targeting. If you are redesigning an
existing site, spend time with the server logs to analyze past site usage.
There are no browser-support guidelines that can anticipate every design situa-
tion; however, the following scenarios should start you thinking:- If you are designing a scientific or academic site, you should probably pay
extra attention to how your site functions in Lynx (or other graphics-free
browsing environments). - If your site is aimed at a consumer audience—for instance, a site that sells
educational toys to a primarily “mom”-based audience—don’t ignore your
site’s performance and presentation in the AOL browsers. - If you are designing for a controlled environment, such as a corporate intra-
net, or even better, a web-based kiosk, you’ve got it made! Knowing exactly
what browser and platform your viewers are using means you can take full
advantage of the whistles and bells (and even proprietary features) appropri-
ate to that browser. If you are designing a standalone kiosk, you may even
have the luxury of loading the fonts you want to use. Just be sure your design
won’t crash the browser since there’s no one there to restart it for you imme-
diately.
In these situations, the “current version design” strategy discussed earlier in
this chapter is entirely appropriate (just don’t get spoiled)! - If you are designing a computer game site aimed at young gaming geeks, you
can probably assume they will have the latest browsers and plug-ins (or will
get them if you say they need them).
For most multipurpose web sites, stick with the safer “Splitting the Difference”
approach to design, or if you have the resources, create multiple versions and
serve them appropriately.