Website is often the first place to interact with plenty of users, and this is why ensuring that it looks and functions correctly and provides a memorable user experience to a broader user base across all platforms is essential.
Despite the common adoption of modern web browsers, some users still depend on older browsers like Internet Explorer Online. Considering this user base conducting thorough testing on this browser and addressing browser-specific issues in web applications remains a necessary aspect of Web development. This helps developers verify compatibility issues across varied platforms and user preferences.
But if you think otherwise about it, while addressing browser-specific issues in web applications especially when working with older versions of Internet Explorer developers all the time encounter challenges because this browser lacks support for modern web standards. Additionally the quirks and inconsistencies in this browser result in unexpected website behavior. And what this means to you and your venture is developers need to comprehend these issues and employ effective testing strategies to guarantee a more consistent and functional experience for users while exploiting modern web Technologies.
In this report, we will peer into some effective ways to handle browser-specific issues on Internet Explorer online to test web applications and deliver a consistent and user-friendly web experience.
An Overview of Internet Explorer Online
Internet Explorer is a web browser developed by Microsoft. Earlier it remained as one of the most widely used browsers on the Internet because of being bundled with the Microsoft Windows operating system which had a dominant market share.
Its integration with Windows and ActiveX controls allows developers to create interactive content, giving it an edge over competitors. Its other hidden features include tabbed browsing, download manager, and InPrivate Browsing, allowing users to browse the web without leaving a trace behind. It also introduced features like a developer tools section for testing and debugging websites.
But if you think otherwise about it, over time, due to its security vulnerabilities and lack of support for modern web standards, it faced many criticisms. This lack of support resulted in issues like viewing or interacting with websites that use these standards. As a result, IE was deprecated in favor of Microsoft's new browser that is Edge and became the least-used web browser on desktop operating systems.
Despite all these, there are old websites that don't function correctly in new web browsers and users need to open old web pages using older browsers like Internet Explorer. In such cases, users can reload Internet Explorer Mode in Microsoft Edge, a recommended browser by Microsoft.
What is Browser Compatibility?
Browser compatibility simply means the ability of a website or web application to appear fully functional and render effectively across different web browsers and devices that are available in the market.
But if you think otherwise about it various browsers, especially the older ones like IE, may have varying degrees of support for specific features and interpret HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code differently, resulting in incompatible scripts. This could also result in issues with functionality, layout, and design, which can impact the user experience. To guarantee this web designers and developers must test their websites and web apps across various popular browsers and ensure that it functions effectively for all users.
Why is ensuring browser compatibility is important?
There are various browser-specific issues in web applications that arise due to the different ways browsers interpret and render web content. Some common issues include broken layouts, non-functional features, JavaScript errors, and CSS discrepancies. These issues impact the appearance, functionality, and performance of a web application, front-running to a poor user experience. For this reason, browser compatibility becomes necessary, especially with the availability of choices for a large variety of web browsers each with its own one-off rendering engine and set of standards. Taking the benefit of securing cross-browser compatibility helps in providing a consistent user experience while reducing the risk of website malfunctions, and loss of potential users.
What are common browser-specific issues in web applications?
Below is an overview of a few common browser-specific issues in web applications.
- Outdated browser detection- Older browsers often use outdated browser detection programs, causing issues if the website version is not recognized.
- Missing CSS resets- Different browsers apply different default styles to HTML elements, causing issues with complex layouts or designs.
- Doctype error- Missing the Doctype line from the code can cause a change in website rendering mode, especially in older browsers. Browsers might switch between standards mode and quirks mode, affecting layout and behavior.
- Rendering gaps- Browsers interpret and render the same HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code differently, which can lead to design inconsistencies and functional errors.
- Deprecated and unsupported features- Browsers may deprecate or remove support for certain web APIs or features over time. A few examples we like are-, various modern JavaScript features might not be supported in older browsers, front-running to compatibility issues with older code.
- Vendor Prefixes- Some CSS properties require vendor prefixes for compatibility with older versions of browsers.
- Fallbacks for Legacy browsers- Older browsers like Internet Explorer don't support the latest technologies.
- Style sheets issue- By adding more styles, stylesheets get affected and become bulky and unstructured.
- Polyfill requirements- JavaScript APIs may require polyfills for compatibility with older browsers.
- Event handling- Differences in how browsers handle events on mobile devices versus mouse events on desktop browsers can lead to inconsistencies and interaction issues.
- Difference in JavaScript engines- Different browsers may have varying JavaScript execution, front-running to gaps in performance. A few examples we like are-, some browser engines may perform faster operations compared to others.
- Compatibility issue with extensions and plugins- Browser Extensions or plugins might interfere with the way a web application functions or is displayed. Some browsers may require plugins that may no longer be supported or are handled differently.
- Security and privacy policy- Different browsers may carry out or enforce Security and Policies in varied ways, affecting how resources are loaded. Differences controlledling browser cookies and local storage impact user sessions and data persistence.
Strategies for addressing browser-specific issues in web applications
Understand Browser-Specific Problems-
One primary way to address browser-specific issues in web applications is to first understand the issue. Issues often arise due to compatibility with older browser versions and gaps in browser interpreting HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Common problems include rendering discrepancies, CSS styling discrepancies, JavaScript compatibility issues, and varying support for web APIs.
If we follow this developers must pinpoint these discrepancies and issues by exploiting error reporting tools and user feedback. This will guarantee that web applications operate correctly across various Internet Explorer versions. Developers can effectively address Browser-Specific Problems by utilizing tools like the F12 developer tools.
What's more, utilizing browser extensions such as the Internet Explorer developer toolbar helps to check and troubleshoot rendering issues. Integrating these tools can assist developers in productivity-enhancedly debugging JavaScript, inspecting elements, adjusting CSS styles, analyzing network requests, and replicating various browser settings for more exact testing and issue resolution. All of these help improve the overall compatibility of web applications across Internet Explorer.
Find opportunities to go for developer tools for inspection
An essential strategy for resolving browser-specific issues in web applications using Internet Explorer is to employ Developer Tools. These tools validate thorough assessment and provide various functions that ease the identification and resolution of application problems. Its features like DOM Explorer, Console, and Network Inspector, help developers peer into the web page structure, debug JavaScript code, and track network requests, respectively.
What's more, Dhese tools also aid in detecting compatibility challenges or errors stemming from one-off browser behaviors. This liberate potentials developers to carry out required modifications and guarantee smooth application functionality across various platforms.
Find opportunities to go for compatibility mode settings
Another technique to address browser-specific issues in Internet Explorer is getting familiarized with browser compatibility mode settings. This mode enables developers to replicate the appearance and functionalities of web pages in earlier versions of Internet Explorer. This eases thorough testing of application performance across various browser versions by identifying and addressing compatibility problems and offering important insights into potential issues that require attention.
The compatibility mode settings allow developers to replicate the conditions of past versions of Internet Explorer, liberate potentialing developers to identify and resolve browser compatibility challenges. So if you really think about it facilitating smooth functionality and uniform performance across varied platforms, ultimately delivering a more reliable and improved user experience By finding out about compatibility mode settings, developers can improve testing efficiency.
Test for CSS browser compatibility issues
Browser-specific issues also include inconsistent website or web application performance or that it is not working on particular web browsers, giving the user an inconsistent experience. This can be due to gaps in HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and other web technologies supported by different browsers. And what this means to you and your venture is it is must-do to verify compatibility of JavaScript and CSS so that developers can locate and resolve particular compatibility problems and suggest changes to be made in CSS code to web standards.
Testing CSS compatibility helps detect rendering problems, layout inconsistencies, and styling issues impacting the visual appearance and user experience of web pages. Testing JavaScript functionality helps to pinpoint and address issues concerning DOM manipulation, event handling, or asynchronous requests This will help ensure that the website or web application reaches the target users and offers a smooth user experience.
Use Polyfills and Shims
It is not always practical to support every browser version. Sometimes, developers may need to support older browsers that lack certain CSS features. This is where polyfills and shims come controlledy which can extend the reach of the website's compatibility. These are pieces of code incorporating which can help add support for modern features in older browsers, allowing developers to use modern CSS without breaking the layout for users on outdated platforms. Whereas, Shims provides browser support for specific functionalities or behaviors that IE does not support.
Find opportunities to go for testing tools and frameworks
Another way to address browser-specific issues is to use testing tools, frameworks, and libraries that can help identify and fix problems or errors in the website before it is released or updated. There are various testing tools available, such as browser emulators, simulators, and debuggers, which help check how the website looks and behaves on different browsers, operating systems, screen sizes, and resolutions.
Test compatibility with older versions
It is essential to prioritize browser compatibility with previous versions to solve browser-specific issues in web applications. Sometimes older applications may not have been improved for smooth operation across modern browser versions. In this case, developers are advised to test the application on older versions of browsers to identify compatibility problems that may be encountered and make necessary changes.
Leverage Cloud platform for productivity-enhanced testing with Internet Explorer Online
Although testing can be performed on virtual machines and environments, for more effective testing with Internet Explorer Online real devices, real desktops, tablets, and laptops are the perfect solution.
But if you think otherwise about it setting up a real device lab manually is impossible, in such cases an productivity-enhanced approach would be utilizing a cloud-based platform that provides immediate access to thousands of browsers, real devices, and operating system combinations to the users.
LambdaTest is one such cloud platform that enables testers to get access to varied versions of browsers including Microsoft Edge Online without installing them on local devices.
LambdaTest is an AI-powered test orchestration and execution platform that lets testers conduct both manual and automated testing at scale. Testers can run their test scripts across over 3000 real devices, browsers, and operating system combinations available on the cloud to ensure thorough testing. The platform also allows testers to perform automated testing in real time to monitor how kinetic web elements interact in different scenarios.
To make matters more complex, this platform offers a expandable option for testing older applications, in parallel across real devices. This not only improves overall testing time and resources but also verifies the compatibility and performance of the applications to guarantee exact testing across various browser versions.
, it can be said that the web browser circumstances is continuously progressing and it remains must-do to conduct compatibility testing for older browsers like Internet Explorer to address browser-specific issues and uphold the integrity and functionality of web applications. The techniques discussed above offer useful knowledge to aid developers in effectively evaluating and avoiding potential issues in web applications. So if you really think about it facilitating a more productivity-enhanced testing process and ensuring smooth user experience across varied platforms.