The software market is constantly growing, and so are the browsers and devices. Customers are no more naive in choosing the best websites to fulfill their needs. So, it becomes necessary for the business to offer them the best user experience and services. There are so many browsers that come with new versions from time to time, making it difficult for the developers to deal with the cross browser compatibility issues. Cross-Browser Compatibility is the most critical aspect that needs special attention of the developers and has always been challenging to handle because of the different working mechanisms of various browsers available. It becomes even more complicated when it involves different device-operating system combinations. So finding how to solve cross browser compatibility issues is a high priority job of the developers and critically important to the business.

1. Major Cross Browser Compatibility issues
faced by the Developers
Introduction
The software market is constantly growing, and so are the browsers and devices.
Customers are no more naive in choosing the best websites to fulfill their needs. So,
it becomes necessary for the business to offer them the best user experience and
services. There are so many browsers that come with new versions from time to
time, making it difficult for the developers to deal with the cross browser compatibility
issues. Cross-Browser Compatibility is the most critical aspect that needs special
attention of the developers and has always been challenging to handle because of
the different working mechanisms of various browsers available. It becomes even
more complicated when it involves different device-operating system combinations.
So finding how to solve cross browser compatibility issues is a high priority job of the
developers and critically important to the business.
What is Cross browser compatibility?

2. In simple terms, Cross browser compatibility is the ability of the web applications to
function consistently on all types of Browser-OS-Device combinations in terms of
how they look and behave across as many platforms as possible. As more and more
devices, operating systems, and browsers are introduced in the ecosystem,
supporting them is quite a challenge for front-end developers. Different users have
different browser preferences, and the business cannot force them to switch to
another browser type. So, it is important to check your website
compatibility even across old legacy browsers. But how can we achieve all of this?
It is by focusing on correcting the main cross browser compatibility issues faced by
the developers. As we progress in this article, we will be able to answer the question
as to what are cross browser compatibility issues and solutions.
Let’s dig deeper into some key challenges that cause browser compatibility issues
for developers. Here we go!
 CSS:
One of the most important aspects that causes cross browser compatibility issues
and makes it challenging for the developers to handle is the CSS. Managing CSS is
quite complex and unorganized. CSS poses challenges not only for web developers
but also for those who develop browsers. With the help of emerging cross browser
strategies and testing tools, compatibility issues can be tackled easily. There is a
common notion among the developers that developers want to focus more on the
logical aspects of web development rather than the product. Google studied the most
common cross browser compatibility issues in its most popular sub-branches, such
as CSS Flexbox, CSS Position Sticky, Grids, aspect ratio, and CSS transforms.
Google, in collaboration with Microsoft, Igalia, and Mozilla has been trying to fix

3. these compatibility issues under the compatibility 2021 project, also called
COMPAT2021. Microsoft has taken charge of ameliorating CSS Grids and sub-grids
in Chromium and intends to qualify all grid tests.
 Issues with Old Browsers:
Legacy browsers like Internet Explorer are outdated and do not support the latest
technologies. Even the older versions of other browsers like Mozilla Firefox, Google
Chrome, etc., are covered under the old browser category. Technology is constantly
evolving, so the CSS has to change with this evolution. But it is easier said than
done. It is impossible to implement the CSS updates wholly because, even today,
many users use Internet Explorer as their preferred browser. Browsers keep
releasing new updated features, but not all users use the updated browser version of
their preferred browser. So, these issues need to be tested to avoid browser
compatibility issues across all browsers and browser versions for a better user
experience.

4.  Internet Explorer is obsolete:
There was a time when Internet Explorer (IE) dominated the market. However, with
rapid growth in technology, Internet Explorer has become obsolete and does not
support features that other browsers do. In the year 2021, Internet Explorer has
become a consistent problem for the developers and also a top reason for causing
Cross Browser Compatibility issues, as some users still browse the internet on IE.
Here is a chart showing the most troublesome browser by the developers (as per
MDN Browser Compatibility Report 2020).
It does not offer multi-class support, the Form layout design is not great and it is also
not updated with most of the new properties available elsewhere. Even though
Internet Explorer supports CSS Flex box, it still does not completely solve the
problem. It is reported that there will be no support provided for IE 11 desktop from
2022 and beyond for some Windows 10 versions. The IE Mode on MS Edge will be
used for accessing and testing IE.
People cannot leave Internet Explorer easily because it has a history. It all started
with IE. Internet Explorer was a huge success and, so are its contributions in the
past. Many applications on health, accounting, inventory, etc., were built on Internet
explorer. Even today, many businesses use IE because switching to modern
browsers is expensive. Considering all of the above reasons, developers should
understand that IE cannot be ignored, at least currently, and ensure that cross
browser compatibility issues are tested on Internet Explorer on priority as well.
 JavaScript Compatibility Issues:

5. JavaScript is not much liked by developers when it comes to solving cross browser
compatibility issues. Building web apps depend on JavaScript, despite so many
advancements in HTML and CSS. Developers face many challenges while solving
browser compatibility issues using JavaScript, mainly when they use features in the
web pages that old browsers do not support or while using inappropriate DOCTYPE
and the wrong browser sniffing code, etc. There should be a proper mechanism for
processing scripting languages like JavaScript to remove cross-browser
compatibility issues with JavaScript. A few examples of JavaScript related cross
browser compatibility issues are:
– Aligning ECMA Script versions for different browsers
– ECMAScript6 version is supported but only by using Polyfills.
– No JavaScript Native Support available
– Code bloat caused using compiler
– JS Contains multiple modules and packages that slow down the app speed
Solving cross browser compatibility issues with JavaScript is quite problematic for
the developers. Hence, it is essential to run cross browser compatibility testing to
figure out the cross browser compatibility issues and solutions.
 Layout and Styling Compatibility:
A majority of developers are struggling with styling and layout issues. Any business
would demand a well-designed responsive website. But considering different
browsers, platforms, and devices, this becomes unachievable. Achieving long-lasting
layout compatibility across various browsers using CSS Flexbox and CSS Grid is not
easy. Dynamic websites with responsive design and layouts always have issues like

6. scrolling and viewport sizes support which causes serious cross browser
compatibility issues for developers. MDN Browser Compatibility Report 2020
mentions layout and design features that cause cross browser compatibility issues.
 Progressive Web Applications Compatibility issues:
Progressive Web Apps are non-native apps that do not have features of a native
web app. It cannot take advantage of native functions of the device like accessing
camera or file, etc. Managing PWAs has become a pain point for the developers.
Google, however, always supports PWAs’ future and provides a list of APIs for PWA
development. The PWAs are supported by masked icons but need to carry fixed
icons and a personal web app manifest to the browser. Hence, browser compatibility
is of utmost importance, even in the case of progressive web apps. Although it is
undoubtedly the most disliked task to frequently change the icon images, it can’t be
ignored.

7.  Issues during Browser Rendering:
Sometimes, some elements work on one browser but not on the other.
These rendering issues cause problems in cross browser compatibility issues.
Every browser engine works uniquely while rendering web pages and those browser
engines are responsible for everything we see and use on the browsers. Due to this,
the font size and image ratios become abrupt, causing inconsistency in page
rendering. Testing websites on so many browsers and their versions seem
impossible unless you rely on cloud testing platforms like pCloudy to make cross
browser testing easier.
 Late adoption of new updates:
Developers keep releasing new features but they are not embraced by browsers
immediately. This delay causes many other hurdles in implementation, causing
severe cross browser compatibility issues. Whenever there is a delay in the adoption
of new features, the lag impacts the quality of the website. CSS Subgrids supported
by Mozilla Firefox help to solve the front-end and design problems of the developers.
CSS Subgrids is a new CSS feature to build nested grids. There is a grid inside of
another grid that helps front-end developers in solving many predictable compatibility
issues.
 CSS Flexbox Issues:
Another main reason for causing cross browser compatibility issues is CSS Flexbox.
As mentioned earlier in this article, CSS Flexbox is covered under the Compat21

8. project showcasing the problems that impact browser compatibility. Flexbox creates
design and layout issues that have been considered the most browser-critical
compatibility challenge for developers. Flexbox gives structure to the content of the
web page. More than 70 % of the pages contain CSS Flexbox in their source code.
CSS Flexbox consists of a list of properties that all browsers do not support
currently.
 Issues due to Polyfills
It is a piece of code (JS code) used for providing modern browser functionalities to
the older browsers that do not natively support them. Polyfills are important to
developers because sometimes, many features fail across browsers. So, to cope
with that situation, polyfills are used. Why are the developers scared to deal with this
messy business of compatibility? It is because thinking about how to solve cross
browser compatibility issues is a developer’s job. They can’t get away with cleaning
up the mess and keeping the website consistent across different platforms. Polyfills
are considered an extra burden for the developers, so they are disliked by the
developers, especially in the case of the older browsers. Polyfill is the most current
compatibility pain point of 2021.
Conclusion
Cross browser compatibility is a critical aspect on which your website’s user
experience depends. Dealing with Cross Browser Compatibility issues becomes a
nightmare for the developers most of the time. No matter how hard you try to avoid
these issues, they will prevail because bugs and development go hand in hand; and

9. developers have no option but to find ways to solve them. We always have to test
these cross browser compatibility issues by relying on platforms like pCloudy, which
support performing cross-browser compatibility testing of your application and
achieving browser compatibility goals.