Responsive Web design: What is it, why you should invest in it
Also known as RWD, Responsive Web Design is an approach aimed at allowing web pages for a desktop to be viewed according to the device size that one is using to view it. RWD designed sites, therefore, adapt to the viewing environment layout by using grids that are fluid and based on proportion. There are CSS3 media queries and flexible images.
Responsive Web Design is thus the approach suggesting that development and design should be in response to the user’s environment and behavior based on orientation, platform, and screen size. This practice consists of a combination of flexible layouts and grids. It also combines the intelligent use of CSS media queries and images. As users switch from the iPad to the laptop, websites should automatically then switch to adjust to scripting abilities, images sizes, and resolutions. To put it another way, websites should have the capacity to respond automatically to the preference of the user. This eliminates the necessity for different development and design phases for every new gadget available in the market today.
One for All
After all, why should there be a design for each new user group? Indeed, there should be automatic adjustments for web design, just like responsive architecture. There should not be countless solutions custom made for every user-category. Obviously, it is not going to be possible to use robotics and motion sensor technology for this to be accomplished. Rather, a more abstract method of thought is required by Responsive Web Design. Some ideas are put into practice. These include scripts, media queries and fluid layouts that are able to reformat web-pages and automatically mark up.
Keep in mind that Responsive Web Design is not just about screen resolutions adjusting to the gadget and images resized automatically. Rather, it is an entirely new thought form about how to think about design.
Some years ago, when it was a luxury for layouts to be flexible, the only flexibility was in text and layout columns in a design. Each image could easily cause layouts to break. Even elements of structure broke the form of the layout at times. Flexible design was not absolutely flexible. After a few hundred pixels, they could not adjust to larger netbooks or computer screens.
These days, it is easier for things to have more flexibility. Images could be adjusted automatically. There are ways to work around it so that a layout won’t break. There are no complete fixes as of yet. On the other hand, there are more options for these solutions. It is perfect for a device that switches from landscape to portrait instantly. This is also perfect for when users switch from an iPad to a large computer screen. In order to create a fluid grid that produces fluid images, using:
- Foreground images that scale with the layout
- Creating sliding composite images and
- Revealing and hiding portions of images
All come into effect. These elastic layouts adjust to the size of your gadgets.
The Ingredients
Media queries, flexible images, and fluid grids are the three Responsive Web Design technical ingredients. Of course, this also requires a different method of looking at things. Instead of getting the content quarantined into device-specific, disparate experience, media can instead be used to enhance work progressively within varied contexts of viewing. For instance, if your mobile’s user goals have a limited scope in its equivalent on the desktop, the best approach might be to serve the different content to each. However, this type of design does not need to be our thinking default. Rather, different experiences need varied work designs need to be considered. The way forward really is to use Responsive Web Design which allows us to design for the flow and ebb of things. It is about time a solution such as this one came into the picture. After all, the size of gadgets varies from one to the next. Who knows what the next size is going to be? With the never-ending manufacturing of varied screen sizes, it is a good idea to find one-way websites can keep up.
Resizing Images
One issue that needs a solution with RWD is with the way an image appears. Many techniques are used to proportionally resize images. One of the most popular options is to use the max width of CSS for an easy solution. This image will load its regular size unless the gadget becomes narrower than the image’s original width. For beautifully resizing images, this is a simple, great technique.
Why Should You Invest in Responsive Web Design?
These days, every new client opts to have the Smartphone version of their website. Who can blame them? After all, this is practically essential. One design for the Kindle one for the netbook, the iPad, the iPhone and another one for the Blackberry is simply practical. All resolutions of the screen need to be compatible as well. In a few years, there are sure to be more gadgets available on the market. Is this madness ever going to stop? Probably never. Smart consumers and clients know that Responsive Web Design is the only solution to this growing necessity. Obviously, if you want your webpage to be easily viewed in every gadget, you should invest in it. Otherwise, you will be spending on a different web design for every type of gadget that comes out. Who needs the extra expense? No one. Most folks would prefer to spend once on RWD and then relax knowing that any new gadget on the market simply won’t matter. This is because their website will easily and naturally simply adjust to whatever size it needs to be.
In the Web development field, it is really becoming more and more impractical to try and keep up with endless new devices and resolutions. Most web owners create a new version of their website for every new device. The downside to not doing this is losing potential clients that simply can’t view your site on their iPhone but can do so on their iPad. The only option left to consider is really investing in Responsive Web Design.
Ready to improve your website’s performance with responsive design? Contact PrimeView today to start creating a seamless, user-friendly experience for all devices!
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