How to Optimize a Web Page for Different Operating Systems

Different operating systems not only use different browsers; there can be other display differences as well. Optimize your Web page for all platforms and open your site to everyone.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Modems
• Internet Access
• Computers
• Internet Explorer
• Netscape Navigator
• Netscape Navigator
• Internet Explorer

1. Learn which operating systems use alternative browsers. Some operating systems (such as Linux) commonly use text-based browsers, while others (such as Macintosh and Windows) use graphics-based browsers, such as Navigator. Other operating systems, like WebTV, are similar to graphics-based browsers but certain objects, like tables and frames, look different or can't be seen at all.

2. Visit the World Wide Web Consortium's HTML Validation Service Web site (validator.w3.org). This free service, provided by the developers of HTML standards, will check your page for HTML compliance. Most browsers are HTML-compliant.

3. Always use ALT tags in your Web page. If a browser can't handle images, ALT tags let you specify text instead so that text-based browsers "see" where an image (or link) would be.

4. Design your Web site so that it's easily viewed in monochrome, less colors and without tables. Use ALT tags to show this alternative information for browsers that don't support the regular features.

5. Use "browser-safe" colors on your Web page. Browser-safe colors are viewable on virtually all of the operating systems widely available (with the exception of monochrome and text-based viewers).

6. Purchase or download an emulation program, such as PC Emulator. These programs allow you to see what your page will look like in a variety of platforms and browsers, with just one or two clicks.

7. Use HTML to control your page so it's viewed uniformly in all browsers. For example, because some operating systems default to a gray background, set the background color to white so it overrides existing default settings.

8. Learn the differences between operating systems and how they view pages. For example, Windows computers will see Macintosh-designed images as darker and with more contrast; conversely, Macintoshes will see Windows-designed images as lighter and flatter. Adjust for this by lightening or darkening your images, depending on which platform you use.

9. Ask someone with a different operating system to view your page in his or her browser.

Tips & Warnings

• Macintosh users can simulate a PC by changing the monitor gamma setting to 2.2. With a Web page open, change the monitor resolution from 832 by 624 pixels to the common PC resolution of 640 by 480.