The Plastic Surgeon Website: Building A Cross-Browser Compatible Website

When it comes to your plastic surgeon website, building a site that is cross-browser compatible is becoming more and more important. An ever increasing amount of Internet users are moving to alternative browsers, browsers other than Internet Explorer. In fact, over 20% of Internet users currently use browsers other than Internet Explorer. In Europe , users are actually more like to use browsers like Firefox and Opera. Though Internet Explorer is still the most popular browser in the U.S. , alternative browser use is rapidly rising, particularly the use of Mozilla's Firefox. There are many reasons for this, including the decreased security flaws and free usage associated with many alternative browsers, as well as a growing anti-Microsoft attitude among many users.

Ensuring that your website is cross-browser compatible means ensuring that it looks and functions properly in a variety of browsers. While this can prove challenging, it's nevertheless important. For example, Opera users often encounter problems with some CSS techniques, while Netscape users can have trouble with some borders and margins. These problems can discourage users from staying on your website.

You may not know how your website performs in other browsers, but it's important that you test how it appears and functions in a variety of browsers, particularly the more commonly used ones like Mozilla's Firefox, Opera, and Netscape Navigator. There are programs available that allow you to test your site in different browsers, as well as at different screen resolutions, or you can download the browsers at the following URLs and take a look for yourself:

• http://www.mozilla.org/download.html
• http://www.opera.com/
• http://channels.netscape.com/ns/browsers/

Any errors that you find should be fixed. Keep in mind, however, that you likely won't be able to please everyone. However, you can make it possible for your site to look and function properly for the majority of browsers, or the most common browsers, and for the majority of your visitors.