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Problems with responsive websites

05 Apr, 2014

Contrary to popular beliefs, responsive websites can have their pitfalls. Everything brand new and shiny cannot be the perfect solution. Not everyone will need responsive websites but those who will; they will be faced with a new set of hurdles and rest assured, from dealing with complex technicalities of creating a responsive website to communicating with clients regarding development will be no picnic. Especially when the client itself can understand Chinese better than the web development jargon. But then again, one shouldn’t be dismayed. Every problem has a solution.

Communication

As highlighted above, walking the client through different styles and technicalities will be like walking the Sahara desert (worst case scenario). At times the problem or the procedure may be small and insignificant but the client may be insistent on knowing every detail down to the last pixel and a lot of jargons may confuse the client, thus making make a mountain out of a molehill. This can be avoided by showing them rather than impressing them with big technical words. Web design companies can show their clients how their websites will look like on different devices using sample responsive sites, thus setting expectations and understanding in customer’s mind.

Navigation structuring

Designing navigation for clients in responsive websites is no less than a nightmare for developers (depending on the complexity of the navigation structure). Web design agencies look for ways to innovate their web designs and that involves structuring navigation in nontraditional ways (traditional ways comprise of horizontal or vertical boxes on the header or sideways). An ideal solution can be to have a good, consistent design for a website that can be easily and conveniently repositioned. There is no sense in having a complicated web design that would not only create issues in the interface on smaller devices but also may or may not function properly on other browsers or devices.

Source: http://www.sweetmag.my/website-design-2/good-bad-responsive-web-design-ecommerce-websites/

Tables

Websites that must have tables face severe issues with their compatibility on other devices. One would like to give their users well organized tabulated information but then again squishing a whole table on a smaller screen in a usable way is a mystery yet to be solved. The solution can be to browse more for less cluttered, neater looking tables on smaller screens or browsers.

Source: http://css-tricks.com/responsive-data-tables/

Images

Like navigation, the issue of images in responsive websites has also been not responded to on W3C Community. Developers are left with few options to adjust images on different screens. Images also need to be flexible with regards to its positioning and size like codes. These problems are tackled by using iconic symbols or images in SVG format. Furthermore small devices have a higher display resolution therefore web developers have to be careful when using an image as not to make them pixelate and unattractive on smaller devices.

Old internet explorers

What to serve those old IE users? As harsh the reality may sound, there are few CSS media queries for old browsers. As a result, a really pretty looking template may not look the same on an old browser, thus putting one’s effort of designing and attaching style sheets down the drain. One solution can be if a developer builds the website mobile first without including scripts like jr.respond. This way, the outdated browser will experience the mobile view, thus ridding the developer from the headache of using separate responsive scripts.

Source: http://www.sitepoint.com/support-old-browsers-responsive-web-design/

4M Designers make sure to consider all factors and situations when developing a responsive website for their clients to provide them with an end product, well and accurately brand aligned that gives a remarkable web user experience. We also have in store tips and trick that can overcome the issues of a responsive website so contact us now!

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