Web design and development today can be more difficult than ever before. The vast number of browsers, phones, tablets, operating systems and web ready devices is mind boggling. How do you develop web sites that work and look good across the board? Is it possible?
Yes it is possible. It is a technique called Responsive Web Design.
The Challenge
There are multiple browsers like Edge, Chrome, Firefox, Safari and others. There are multiple tablets like the Kindle Fire, Samsung Galaxy, Google Nexus, Apple iPad and others. There are multiple phones like the Motorola RAZR, BlackBerry, Apple iPhone, Samsung Galaxy and others. Every device has a different size screen. Not to mention different desktops and laptops and all the various screen sizes and resolutions. How does your web site look on all of these devices, browsers and operating systems? Now you can find out. Check out this cool web site where you can see what your web site looks like across the board on multiple tablet size screens.
https://responsivetesttool.com
The Solution: Responsive Web Design
Responsive web design is the art of building web sites that render in a flexible shape so that they are usable and readable for users regardless of screen size and device. Responsive web sites bend but don’t break. Remember the Super Hero Stretch Armstrong? Picture a web site that is built like Stretch. Responsive layout is a completely different approach to template and coding web pages than just a few years ago. Unfortunately, if your web site is more than 4 years old it is probably not responsive. Previously, most web developers have been building web sites with the set width approach. You pick a set width like 1000 pixels and you are off and running. Responsive layouts are the opposite of that approach.
The big question — Do you have to go out and build a new web site if your site is not responsive? Probably. It would be hard to retrofit an old website framework and make it truly mobile responsive. The theme, template, framework needs to be a responsive design. We use Bootstrap framework for our website tablet friendly designs.
The most important thing is that if you are in the process of building a new site or thinking of building a new site it absolutely needs to be a responsive design and layout. Ask your web developer if they are building a responsive design and when you get a beta link to preview your new web site use tools like Screenfly to preview your new web site in multiple views.
Monte is one of the original founders of the company in 2003. Monte is a creative talent with 20 years experience in web design and information technology. He works with clients on a daily basis to develop, maintain and market their web sites. Monte is also in charge of the web hosting environment and server administration duties for the company.