As a web developer it can be very easy to overlook the typical browser size or screen resolution of your end users. Most web developers are tech savvy and will use large screens to build and develop their websites and it can be more than easy to overlook the size of it.
The majority of new websites are designed with a width of 960px but the width of the site is not the main problem. Developers often forget about the page fold (i.e. what the user can see straight away without having to scroll) so main elements or call to actions often end up below this.
There are two tools both provided by Google that can help you get passed this problem.
Browser Size
This tool is from Google Labs and is called Browser Size. You will be able to enter you domain and see what percentage of users will be able to view certain parts of your site. The screen size data used here is collected from users of Google.com so wont be completely accurate for your site.
Here’s the link: http://browsersize.googlelabs.com
Google Analytics
Then there is Google Analytics, this tool will provide you with more accurate data as it allows you to view the screen resolutions of your own users.
As you can from the above diagram around 24% of the visitors won’t be able to view anything below 800px and another 21% won’t be able to view anything below 768px.
This gives you a good indication that any important elements like the menu and any call to actions should be in the first 700px at least.
We can then go back to the browser size tool and see what elements are above these dimensions.
Here’s the link: http://www.google.co.uk/analytics/
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Tags: broswer size, testing, web design
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