Designing a website accessible to everyone and adapts smoothly and gracefully to multiple screen sizes seems bold and adventurous. However, no barrier is insurmountable because the web developer community is constantly looking for the finest solutions to answer consumers' requirements and aspirations effectively.
So, what are your options? For both tech and non-tech-aware folks, here're some excellent choices. First, let's look at the most often used universal ways to build responsive designs nowadays.
Responsive website builders
Building a responsive website with a website builder is a quick, simple, and flexible process. They cater to both techies and non-techies by offering a welcoming environment where you can create a website from the ground up without writing a single line of code. Some are primarily focused on responsive behavior, while others consider mobile-friendliness and provide tools for developing a mobile-friendly website.
Grid-based systems
Responsive grid systems may be just up your alley if you enjoy coding or building everything from the ground up, managing each stage of development. Containers, columns, rows, classes for ordering, organizing, and nesting, and some basic styles that easily adjust to screen sizes due to media queries and various standard breakpoints are all included. Developers typically utilize them as a stable foundation upon which to build.
There are a dozen different responsive grid systems out there, some of which are simple and rudimentary and others that are complicated and all-encompassing. Bootstrap is, of course, the most well-known example of this trend. It is updated regularly to make use of the most advanced features of contemporary technology. It now includes a mobile-first flexbox grid for creating layouts of all shapes and sizes, as well as a slew of useful tools and components that make coding a breeze.
Content Management System (CMS)
CMS such as WordPress, Shopify, and others are ready-made systems that, like website builders, can be easily managed by non-technical individuals.
Popular content management systems do not ignore the modern expectations of the web audience. Although they do not provide responsive behavior by default, individuals who build themes for these frameworks consider this, giving responsive templates that are partially or even entirely suited for mobile devices.
Responsive design best practices
A responsive website, as previously said, is not a different technology with a one-size-fits-all solution. Instead, it would help if you employed tactics that produce the best results for your brand, audience, and marketing objectives to succeed. This entails utilizing essential features like flexible layout, flexible graphics, media queries, and adaptable typography and incorporating some tried-and-true tips and tricks. So, let's go through some best practices for building a completely responsive website that fulfills all of your users' expectations.
- Create the mobile website first, then move on to the desktop version. According to statistics, the mobile web is outperforming the desktop web. As a result, mobile devices are likely to be used to access your website. Make the mobile version a priority and utilize it as a foundation for future development. It's much easier to scale up a design than it is to scale it down.
- Recognize the most common screen resolutions. According to GlobalStats, over 25% of visitors use tiny phones with 360px wide screens, while just 12% use laptops with normal 1366px widescreens.
- Create a future-proof user experience that will operate even if the market share changes by catering to popular resolutions.
- The market share of web browsers is something to be aware of. Adapting to the capabilities of the devices and web browser is also part of responsive design. Your website must operate seamlessly across all platforms to provide a seamless experience. The unpleasant reality is that the world of web browsers is not without flaws. Even popular CSS features are still not supported by all browsers. Therefore, you can't only rely blindly on your solution in this instance. You'll need to tweak it to fit the browsers that your target audience uses. Furthermore, if you want to broaden your target market and offer information to every client regardless of their web browser, you strongly suggest that you provide a fallback.
- Consider the physical changes between using the website on a small and large screen. Again, it's all about designing for thumbs in the mobile world. Towards a bare minimum, this implies that buttons should be large, links should be readily tappable, sliders should be swipeable, interactive components, essential information, and navigation should all be within easy reach by thumbs, navigation should be at the bottom, and search should be responsive.
- Landscape orientation should not be overlooked because it is the major impediment to attaining excellent usability and accessibility.
- Avoid overwhelming the user with too much information on a small screen. Instead, reduce friction and concentrate on the essential facts. Don't scale down the entire design since you'll wind up with a lengthy, difficult-to-read page on tiny displays. Mobile users, on the other hand, are typically looking for rapid solutions, according to statistics. They must discover information quickly, or they will be forced to leave. As a result, show only what consumers care about and offer them the tools to locate the rest.
- Refrain from clinging to the past. Instead, follow the trends. Modern ways can sometimes fulfill contemporary demands more effectively than tried-and-true methods. For example, the usage of scalable vector graphics, or SVG, is strongly encouraged these days.
