Using Progressive Enhancement To Create Usable Websites

By Author: Krish Garison
Total Articles: 22
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With the arrival of the mobile evolution, the website designers and developers are thinking beyond the average desktop user. The designing of a web page has become a multi-part process where designing also involves thinking about the person taping away on the Smartphone. However, most developers worry about what they should handle first, the mobile version of the website, or its desktop version. With progressive enhancement, developing a mobile website has been found to lead to a better experience in the desktop version.

Let us begin with understanding what we mean by progressive enhancement. A strategy that is employed by website design Kolkata, it emphasizes on accessibility, external stylesheet, scripting technologies, and semantic HTML markup. In this procedure of website development, the web technologies would be utilized in layered fashion that would enable a person to access the content and functionality of the web page seamlessly. This is irrespective of the browser or the Internet connection used. It simultaneously provides an enhanced version of the page to those with advanced browser software or improved bandwidth.

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... are all aware of the website design process that has been followed in the recent times. It would basically come down to one main focus, designing the web page for the desktop. The website designers have always been catering to the desktop user. It is true that each company have their own set of styles and design techniques ranging from the minimalistic to the sophisticated. There are organizations that would go through the wireframing and moodboards, and some would just follow the designer’s ability to create powerful design in various software programs like Photoshop. This has been working well and it would have continued to do so if we would have ignored the mass media known as the mobile.

However, this is impossible as businesses are learning that everybody is glued to the powerhouse known as the Smartphone. These mobile devices are capable of hosting any website. Yet, companies have kept on leaning on this opportunity for addressing the needs of the mobile user. The zooming and pinching made the approach to website more fun. This has progressed to a more improved user experience, with websites improving their overall conversion rate and usability. Now that we have understood that responsive website design is the appropriate approach, we need to understand its process. It is important to remember that it is harder to downsize.

Associated with proficient web developers, we can safely state the steps that should be taken. The first step is to consider the big picture by figuring the needs of the website and in all of its pages. Creating this would provide the developer with the necessary information to design and develop the website. The next step is in developing the full version of the website with the details that have been accrued. Once this is accomplished, the developers can scale down the desktop version for the mobile. This does work but using the progressive enhancement technique would be more effective. The modus operands of the progressive enhancement technique begins with the mobile, and then it is scaled up. This is an exemplary shift from the process of eliminating things to placing components within the website. It is still important to have an outline for the devices, yet wireframing for the mobile device is much easier than the desktop and this eases the scaling up process. This process of wireframing would enable the developers of website design Kolkata, to incorporate elements without the addition of any hoopla. This smoothened out the process where features could be added without subtracting them. The next expansion was on the tablets.

Once this has been achieved, a strong foundation has been developed. This enabled us to integrate features that would not be thought about otherwise. Starting with the essentials is the key. Developing the mobile version for the Smartphone users made it easy to add all the extra elements that would be necessary in the desktop version. The wireframe was created easily.

With the wireframes ready for the mobile, tablets and the desktops, the customer was presented with the solutions. This little approach of starting small had a positive influence on the development process. It was much more efficient and time saving. With the wireframes and the design elements already prepared, it is time to make these come together. Designing becomes exponentially easier and the client can be presented with a solution that was satisfactory.

There are different methods of website design and development, but employing the responsive approach and using the progressive enhancement method is a wise choice.

Author Bio:
Working with website design Kolkata, Krish Garison has been propagating the use of progressive enhancement to create responsive websites. To know more about our development process, contact www.brandmantra.net