When you create a website, one size never fits all. You always have to consider screen size and you always have to consider how different browsers will interpret your website’s code. But there is no way around it. Some browsers just plain damn suck. But you still have to consider browser performance.
Before you decide whether or not it’s the browser’s fault or your site’s fault, you need to make sure that you understand how browsers interpret information. Almost every browser does something unique. And mobile browsers tend to make considerable distinctions in how they interpret information as compared to laptop and desktop browsers.
But even if you have given consideration to all those unique concerns, you still may find that your site just doesn’t run well on some browsers. A good rule of thumb is if you can (and frequently have to) hit the refresh button to get your site running properly, then it is safe to consider the problem as being exclusive to the browser and/or the operating system, and it is unlikely that any amount of coding wizardry will solve your problem.
So What Do You Do Next About Browser Performance?
The simplest and most conservative thing to do is to just dumb your site down. Whatever isn’t running well, you can just remove it. If the problem is on a major browser, you might have to use this option. But more than likely, the issue is the problem is on a more obscure browser.
You could write an exception into your program. It is generally not a great idea to try write exceptions based on specific browsers. But you can write exceptions based on screen size or browser behavior. But what if the exception casts too wide a net? Or what if the exception simply doesn’t solve the problem? And what if removing the problem-causing feature requires you to substantially deteriorate the performance of your site for most users for a problem that is rare?
Well, then you have to ask yourself, how rare is it? And how much longer will it last? Bad browsers tend to cause problems on many sites, and users get sick of using them.
If you are finding that hitting refresh gets your site running properly, than it may mean that your site is a little advanced for the browser or operating system that you’re using. Which means that it’s probably a piece of technology that fewer and fewer people are using, and you might just want to let its poor performance slide.
If your website is any good, it probably isn’t that hard to find a browser that is older and more obscure and runs your site like crap. The only remaining question is, is the browser old enough and obscure enough that you can stop worrying about it?
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Read my article about creating a long term plan for building and maintaining a website.