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Planning and Setting Up Your Site 97
Creating sites for browser compatibility
As you create your site, you should be aware of the variety of Web browsers your
visitors are likely to use. Where possible, design sites for maximum browser
compatibility, given other design constraints.
There are over two dozen different Web browsers in use, most of which have been
released in more than one version. Even if you target only Netscape Navigator and
Microsoft Internet Explorer, which are used by the majority of Web users, be
aware that not everyone uses the very latest versions of those browsers. If your site
is on the Web, sooner or later someone will visit it using Netscape Navigator
2.0—or the browser that AOL provides its customers, or a text-only browser
such as Lynx.
There are some circumstances under which there’s no need to create cross-
browser-compatible sites. For example, if your site is available only on your
company’s intranet, and you know that all of your company’s employees use the
same browser, you can optimize your site to rely on features of that browser.
Similarly, if you’re creating HTML content to be distributed on CD-ROM, and
you distribute a browser on the CD, you can assume that all of your customers
have access to that particular browser.
Under most circumstances, for Web sites designed for public viewing, it’s a
good idea to make your site viewable in as many browsers as possible. Pick one
or two browsers as your target browsers, and design the site for those browsers,
but try exploring the site in other browsers now and then to avoid including too
much incompatible content. You can also post a message on a discussion board
to ask others to view your site. This can be a good way to get feedback from a
wide audience.
The more sophisticated your site is—in terms of layout, animation, multimedia
content, and interaction—the less likely it is to be cross-browser compatible. Not
all browsers can run JavaScript, for example. A page of plain text that uses no
special characters will probably display well in any browser, but such a page may
have much less aesthetic appeal than one that uses graphics, layout, and
interaction effectively. Try to strike a balance between designing for maximum
effect and designing for maximum browser compatibility.
One useful approach is to provide multiple versions of certain important pages,
such as your site’s home page. For example, you can design both a framed version
and a frameless version of such a page. You can then include in your Web page a
behavior that automatically shifts visitors without frame-capable browsers to the
frameless version. For more information, see “Using the behavior actions that
come with Dreamweaver” on page 444.