Tools to Check Cross-Compatibility of Web Browsers

When building any website one of the near final checks is to make sure design is going to work in different browsers. Unfortunately we cannot control what equipment and software that users are going to choose, so it is important to check cross browser compatibility. This can be a tedious process but the tools listed below are designed to lessen the pain by facilitating testing in the most popular browsers across multiple operating systems.

Adobe Browser Lab (https://browserlab.adobe.com)

The Adobe Browser Lab creates multiple screenshots of your website in the most popular browsers. The initial settings are for Firefox 3.0 on Windows XP and OS X, Internet Explorer 7 on Win XP, and Safari 3 on OS X. More browsers are available in the “browser sets tabs”. Here you can also change the order screen shots are displayed to you.

One of the standout features of this browser test is the ability to look at 2 browsers side by side right on the screen, but you can also do an overlay of two screenshots for comparison. It also has a built in ruler function to take measurements right on your screen, and a timer to let content load fully before taking a screenshot. The only requirement for this application is an adobe.com registration.

Brower Shots (http://browsershots.org/)

Browser Shots may contain the most comprehensive list of web browsers to test from all operating systems (Linux too). In addition to the vast array of browsers it has the most customization options. Browser Shots lets you set the OS or rendering engine then choose your screen size, color depth, JavaScript and Flash settings.

Browser Shots is a free service, and is excellent for grabbing screenshots of nearly every possible browser without needing to install another operating system. The only drawback is that getting the screenshots is not instantaneous. When you request the screen shots they are placed in a queue and taken in the order they are received by the server, so be prepared to wait a little bit before receiving the screenshots.

Litmus (http://litmusapp.com/)

Litmus provides testing in Firefox 2 and Internet Explorer 7 for 50 free tests per month. This includes screenshots, bug tracking and reports to show to your clients or team. For $39 the project pass grants unlimited access for 14 days and more browsers to test with.

Compared to the other tools listed here Litmus adds the ability to test html for newsletters sent via e-mail, and testing password protected sites. In the free package you can test for Outlook 2003 and Gmail. With the paid subscription packages 19 desktop and web-based email clients, and 24 web browsers are available. Also testing your email against major spam filters becomes another feature.

IE Net Renderer (http://ipinfo.info/netrenderer/)

IE Net Renderer is a simple tool designed to let Linux and Mac OS X developers view pages in Internet Explorer. This free tool displays pages in IE from version 5.5 to 8.0. Net Renderer only renders on one IE version at a time, but it adds a ruler bar at the top of the screenshot to help with basic measurements, and it deliver screenshots nearly instantly.

Browsrcamp (http://www.browsrcamp.com)

Browsrcamp is the opposite of Net Renderer. This tool is made for Windows users to test out the variety of browsers available on Mac OS X.  As of this writing you can test on Safari 3.12 for free. Paid packages start at $3 for 2 days access to 12 different Mac OS X browsers.

About Lawrence

Lawrence Hall, Communication Manager at Go-Gulf, a Dubai based web design company that provides high quality website development and logo designing services in various areas of Middle-East.