How to check if a website displays well across multiple browsers and operating systems

Karen Matthews

May 17 |08:48

Checking your website across multiple browsers

A good quality website works in all common browsers and systems (including Windows, OS 10 and Linux) and appears in all browsers in exactly the same way. This is a challenge for many webmasters. Inferior websites are only tested in Internet Explorer or Firefox and as a result, the site will contain errors or be slightly different in other browsers or other systems. There are fortunately several software and online solutions made available to website designers (html and CSS) to control many different browsers, different version numbers and different systems. Below is a list of tools and programs that perform a Cross browser check for potential problems.

1. Install all current browsers

The first option is to install all the different browsers on your computer. The problem is that you can not always install older versions of a browser simultaneously on a computer.

Latest versions of the 5 major browsers:

Offline cross compatibility check

There are tools available to check if your site displays properly in older Internet Explorer browsers:

Microsoft Expression Web 3 Super Preview (Only IE 6, IE 7 en IE 8 )
IE Tester

Online cross compatibility check

And finally, there are several websites / online tools you can use to view a particular website within the various browsers. The disadvantage is that you often have to wait before you see results.This can be very annoying if you have a tight deadline.

Browsershots (Multpile browsers at the same time!)
Browser Sandbox
Netrenderer (Limited posibilities)
Adobe Browserlab (Currently in beta with limited access)
Browsercam (Requires login)
Browsrcamp (1 browser at a time)
Cross Browser Testing (Requires payment)
Litmus (Requires payment)
IE Capture (1 browser at a time)

The above list is not exhaustive. It does, however, show most open source or free options. Paid programs were listed because they offered the best value vs cost.

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Author of this article: Karen Matthews

Comments

0 # isc ag 2010-05-20 12:19

Heh, I actually used Browsershots today for the first time, about 1h ago, before stumbling on your post. Good info anyway ^^

Cheers.

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0 # Goose Control 2010-05-25 03:32

Thanks! I actually went through and used your suggestions. I found a few things on my site and fixed it. This is a great blog! I will be adding you to my RSS feed.

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0 # w 2010-05-26 21:54

The problem is that you can not always install older versions of a browser simultaneously on a computer.

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0 # web design 2010-05-26 21:54

great to see this here!

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0 # Web design company 2010-06-12 09:43

I actually pay a company to take screen shots in different browsers. This will save me some cash :)

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0 # daniel 2010-06-16 02:14

If you're going to check browser compatibility, these are decent ways. I'm not sure I've heard of firefox 8 though. :)

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0 # Lorenz 2010-06-16 18:49

Thanks for spotting, Daniel.

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0 # Sydney Web Design 2010-06-26 08:28

Yeah thanks for this, i just found out my website doesn't work well in IE 6 and IE 7 so back to the coding and thanks for the tip.

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0 # Las Vegas Web Design 2010-07-08 00:21

Great tips! Thanks for sharing. Las Vegas Web Design

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0 # amit 2010-07-15 03:24

Though we would all like to be able to do website designing for own website, we all aren't able to, whether we just don't understand the various elements or we just don't have the time or don’t have the required expertise; the use of a top website design company is a must have. Just any website design company will not do; there are various things that can make a web design company a best web design company who will provide the exact services you need to meet the exact specifications you provide and request.

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0 # Annie 2010-07-18 22:33

This is a really useful post! - it inspired me to write this: http://www.sharkeymedia.com/news/256/403/Web-design-not-one-size-fits-all/

feedback welcomed!

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