Browser Compatibility: Perhaps the biggest hurdle of all.

I see people get very excited at the prospect of learning web design, HTML and getting their first website ready for launch. That compares with the deflated feeling that they get when they realise that viewing websites in different browsers can lead to them displaying differently or not at all.

The way that different browsers interpret the same HTML coding is the biggest hurdle facing a web designer. It affects novices more than professionals because novice's coding may of a lower quality or be browser specific … but let's be honest, it affects the professionals too.

With Microsoft launching Internet Explorer 9 this week it's timeline to do a list of the major browsers so that you can ensure you view your website in them and make sure that - even if it doesn't look identical in ease - at least it looks reasonable, readable and isn't broken.

Here’s a list of the most used browsers:

Internet Explorer

Test your website on version 7, 8 and 9 if you can. If you're expecting to work with government institutions or local authorities then you need to include version 6 as well as that's the one maintained by that sector. Download the latest version.

Mozilla Firefox

The latest version is 3.6 which is the one you need to check. Download it here

Google Chrome

Becoming very popular very quickly, this one is currently on version 10. Download it here

Opera

Version 11 will be the one to check here. Download it here

Apple Safari

The browser is the default for Mac users so this is an important one to check. It is available for download on a windows platform too, however. Version 5 should be fine. The download page is here.

If you want a full list there is an excellent diagram of all the browsers with how they have evolved over time. But don't be put off by that; sticking to the ones above will suit you fine.

There are plenty of online resources to help with browser compatibility such as Browser Shots which is free to use and allows screenshots to be taken for a whole range of browsers.

Oh, and one last thing: The browsers above are all desktop application browsers and don't relate to any testing and checking that you might want to do on mobile devices. I think I'll leave that for another day.