Web Browsers: The Information Taxi

A Web browser is like a cab. You call it, you get in and it will lead you to your destination. In the cyberworld, the destination is made out of information and what the browser does is to find and present data resources on the World Wide Web and access to files on private networks.

The most popular Web browsers are:

• Windows Internet Explorer, has 65.5% of the market share.
• Mozilla Firefox, with a 22.52% of all users.
• Apple Safari, chosen by 8.43% of users using generally Mac. It’s Apple’s default browser and the native browser for the iPhone OS. There’s also a version of Safari for the Microsoft Windows operating system, it supports Windows XP and Windows Vista.
• Google Chrome, with a 1.8% of the market share.
• Opera, that has up to 0.72% of users of the Web.

The browser’s interface is the firm and model of the cab. It is composed by different elements and accessories that make us possible to actually use and interact with the site we’re visiting. Those elements vary from a browser to another, but the most popular are:

• An address bar to write the destination (Uniform Resource Identifier, URI) for the browser to take us there.
• A minor search bar to look for specific terms into a search engine.
• A status bar that displays the loading process of a given resource.
• A home button that leads the users to their home page.
• A refresh button that reloads the current site and a stop button to cancel the loading. Back and forward buttons to move in our Web actions time-line.

If we think in browsers as our main way to get to information, we must think about them as the way customers have to get to us. Even if interfaces have common resources like the listed before and some others, there are structural differences that can be reflected in the way the same information is presented by diverse browsers.

A good-looking web design may not be that good-looking in other browsers. The thing is that Web pages can be interpreted in a different way by browsers. Making it accessible means that users will be able to read and understand the content of your Web site using any web browsers or platforms.

It’s a very common issue to create a Web site and don’t make sure it will work for every browser. It’s extremely important to design for everybody and check every corner of the Web site. Formats, spaces, content boxes, colors.

Once we look like we want to for everybody, we must remember how fast the Web mutate and monitor updates and changes in browsers to adjust our Web design to new interfaces.

Browsers are our way to get to the world, let’s keep that in mind and if Internet is for everybody, let it be!

Of course, we’ll design your Web site taking into account these simple rules. We bring your vision to life making it a success among your customers that are using any browsers. Our philosophy of  ’design first’ is still proving success when applied to business! If you need help, just call us today at 1-800-932-2580.

Sources:

• Check Browser Compatibility.
• Market Share (2009). Browsers market share.
• About Browsers and their Features