What does browser testing mean today?
All of this brings me to what exactly browser testing mean in 2009/10. For me it simply means ensuring that my content and functionality are accessible (by using meaningful markup, foundation CSS and unobtrusive scripting) and that a design does not look broken when viewed through older or less capable browsers. This approach is liberating. It stimulates me to design to the edges of what browsers are capable of rendering.
Much as you might think that I must be lucky to have clients who allow me to work this way, I’m not. It’s not a matter of luck. Instead it’s a matter of clearly explaining the issues to people and giving them options. If my experience is anything to go by, people are more than willing to accept these natural differences between browsers and for you to design around them to make the best use of your time and their investment.
I usually explain this to my clients by comparing browsers to TVs. Some people have HDTVs and some people still have crappy B&W TVs. The only way to make a movie look exactly the same on every TV would be to make it in B&W from the start, but it’ll just look like crap for everyone, so we might as well make it in HD knowing that the people using B&W TVs can still follow the plot even though it won’t look the same for them.
It’s not at all a perfect analogy, but they usually get the point that it’s not worth the trouble to make a site look exactly the same everywhere, as long as it still gets the job done.
