In the past two years, the term responsive websites have gained more and more attention, and there’s good reason for this. As the goal of any website is to be easily visible and usable on different platforms (PC, laptops, mobile phones and tablets), therefore designers will have to use suitable techniques and software tools to achieve that. The different resolution and screen size on different devices can be problematic, which is the reason responsive web design is needed.
For an optimal viewing experience, responsive web design (RWD) is essential. With the popularity it gained, a website owner who is looking progressive enhancement depending on various devices, browser compatibility and so on can take advantage of RWD. Probably this is certainly a strong option to go with even though you find hassle in handling it.
1. Function
As there are so many Internet access devices, each with different screen size and resolution, responsive web design uses fluid layout and several responsive page elements such as videos, text and images.
By creating multiple sets of codes, each for a specific access device, it is now possible for user to access information and navigate web pages without distortion or missing any content. Of course, this is just basic information and there are various other details involved in creating a responsive web design.
2. Implementation
Creation of responsive and fluid websites involves having 3 ways to present the same information so that user can easily find the desired and searched information. This can be done using responsive design elements such as images, fonts, audio and videos. CSS can be used to control various elements, so that website can display the same content differently on different devices.
3. Image Size
Decreasing the image size and increasing the text size on a mobile site can ensure user friendly viewing and can allow each size to adjust accordingly depending whether it is being viewed vertically or horizontally on the device.
4. Benefits
The biggest benefit of responsive web design is to ensure that irrespective of the device being used; the website can be easily accessed and seen in the way it was planned. This is great as many people are frustrated when they see slow loading pages, small text size, and scroll bars taking up smart phone screen.
5. Responsive Web Design Tools
There are a few best web design tools you can use on your website and download them; these tools combine different services, scripts, themes, frameworks and so on. To make you understand better, the RWD tools have been categorised into various sections. A few categories of these tools include:
- Preview
- Testing
- Wireframes and Frameworks
- Script plugins
- Grid arrangements
- Query inputs
- Sliders etc.
6. Adobe Tools
For a beautiful web design and to make website compatible with various platforms, Adobe has introduced a few tools. This new software release can ease for responsive web design called Adobe Edge Reflow.
To generate radial gradients, it is updated with CSS3 features. There is also another tool developed to test website view on different devices called Edge Inspect.
7. Function of Adobe Edge Reflow Tool
It is used to bridge the space between raster images, which indeed helps you design a website to get a flexible grid format; it also works utilising CSS media queries. It supports depending on the user predefined number of grid columns.
Conclusion
With the creation of a layout that prevents all these things from happening, there will be a great increase in website traffic and it can be seen by large number of users using their preferred devices. Bounce rates will be much lower, as each Internet page will easily adjust itself in a user friendly way. Best of all, designer will have to create just one page instead of several pages for different devices with different layouts. This is best for SEO purposes, because all page views will count collectively towards increasing the page traffic and will also make the website more efficient.