Web Standards and Application Compatibility

Applies To: Windows 7

Before getting into the specifics of design change impacts, it is important to address the main building blocks of web design and coding, and their impact on application compatibility. Web standards provide a common baseline of technologies which allows users to select the web browser of their choice, with minimal fear of not being able to use the websites that they want, while also allowing web designers and developers to create a single implementation of a website with the expectation that everyone will be able to use it. By increasing choice and reducing fragmentation, everyone wins.

In the world of web browsers, standards are constantly evolving and web browsers are continuously being updated to adopt these standards. Consequently, it is very important that IT Pros along with their development teams ensure web applications are compatible with current and emerging web standards and browsers. Doing so ensures the web applications and sites are compatible with new releases of the browser and help prevent many compatibility issues that might otherwise arise.