Check your web site in lots of browsers

I always tell my students to check their web sites in many browsers, but we are limited in the browsers and number of browser versions we can have on our computers. For example, I am a Mac user and I cannot put Internet Explorer on my computers. The problem is that older Internet Explorer (IE) browsers often ruin your web site design my placing objects all over the screen. Those of you on IE 5 or 6 right now probably see some rather large white spaces in this blog.

While I was prepping for teaching this week, I found a wonderful web site with volunteer who give you screenshots of your web site in all kinds of different browsers. This has been a blessing and frustration for me because I now see my blog as everyone is seeing it.

This mixed blessing is at browsershots.org.

Browsershots makes screenshots of your web design in different browsers. It is a free open-source online service created by Johann C. Rocholl. When you submit your web address, it will be added to the job queue. A number of distributed computers will open your website in their browser. Then they will make screenshots and upload them to the central server on browsershots.

You have a varied choice of browsers, and you need to select the browsers you want for your screenshots. Some of you may be surprised that there are many types of browsers and many types of computers. Decide which browsers are not available to you but still interest you. I feel it important to choose all IE versions and some main Opera browsers.