Creating Responsive Website Design: Need of Present Cyber World

The advancements in mobile technology that allowed users to access the web from their phones posed a unique problem for website developers in the first decade of the 21st century. Suddenly, the web pages meant for larger screens in desktops and laptops were being accessed over smaller screens, the largest of which were barely 3-4 inches across. To take care of this problem, developers started building websites compatible with mobile phones. These mobile-specific websites were lighter than the heavier full-scale sites and could load faster despite the lower power of the phone processor as compared to that of a personal computer.

This, however, caused certain complications. One, of course, was the cost – businesses now had to operate two websites instead of one. Another problem was that developers and maintenance teams now had double the work in their hands to manage and maintain two similar sites.

The solution to all these issues was a rather radical and yet, as always, quite commonsensical approach to web design – the responsive website design.

Under this method, the web page responds to the size of the viewing screen and adapts and renders its user interface accordingly. Responsive website design allows the viewer to surf web pages easily across devices as the site responds to the size, platform and orientation of the device and renders accordingly.

Responsive website design uses the flexibility offered by cascading style sheets in HTML documents to size, shape or optimize the graphics and content to make them fit the screen size. It is made by a layout that consists of flexible grids scripting, media queries, graphics, and formatted text that eliminates the need of redesigning the site for each new screen size that is launched in the market. The fluid layouts, media queries and scripts can reformat web pages and markup effortlessly and automatically. With this web design technology, the website adapts as per the resolution of the device and responds accordingly with the necessary resolution or orientation.

Having a responsive website helps a business to have an optimized website layout that suits different screen sizes. Their users get a seamless interface that provides the same information and content to their customers. Different varieties of hand-held devices like smartphones, tablets, Kindle devices or laptops are available in different sizes, making responsive site design the ideal tool for a company. In addition, the cost advantages and the ease of management and maintenance have made this website the preferred choice for businesses.

It is now quite easy for firms to create a responsive website design for themselves. All they need to do is to find the right developer firm that knows the nuances and subtleties of responsive web design and can create visually rich and intuitive websites for the client.

Mark Lum is President and Founder of LUM.NET Internet Strategies. Mark leads a team of technical and design professionals to achieve optimal results for LUM.NET's clients.