Compatibility issues across platforms (Windows/Mac/Linux) and browsers (IE/Netscape/Opera/etc) continue to perplex web developers. These are widely discussed on various web forums. Some specific suggestions follow:
Compatibility Tips for WebEasy Users
Arial, Times New Roman and Courier New are the three most commonly available fonts. If you use only these fonts, your pages will be more likely to display as you intended, regardless of the operating system and web browser used to view your site.
Netscape Navigator does not support advanced effects like transparency, fades and wipes. It is recommended you avoid these effects if your audience will be using Navigator. The same is true for Internet Explorer 4.5 on the Macintosh.
To create a web site that will be viewable by the maximum possible number of people, regardless of the operating system and web browser they use, it is recommended that you build a Standard Internet Web Site containing only text, images and shapes. Older web browsers are incapable of correctly displaying features like animations, effects, transitions and audio.
If you are using forms, it is recommended that you build a Standard Internet Web Site. Also, form fields should be placed directly on the page, rather than on top of images or shapes. This will ensure that your form displays as intended.
If you are building a Dynamic web site, blocks of text that are centered may actually appear left-justified on Internet Explorer 4.5 on the Macintosh. To solve this, insert "[code]<p>[code]" at the start of your text, and "[code]</p>[code]" at the end. For example, if your text is "Welcome to my web site", you would change it to "[code]<p>[code]Welcome to my web site[code]</p>[code]".
If you have placed a text link on top of an image or shape, and build a Dynamic web site, Internet Explorer 5 on the Macintosh may not allow the link to be clicked correctly. It is recommended that you only place image links on top of other images.
Internet Explorer 5 for the Mac draws text in a different fashion to Internet Explorer 4.5. This means that sometimes when you create a Dynamic web site, text will be sized incorrectly. One solution is to only use Arial or Times fonts, as these are the most widely supported. Another solution is to put a message on your page telling users how to alter their text display settings. From Internet Explorer's Preferences menu, in the Languages/Fonts section, change the Resolution from 96 dpi to 72 dpi, or vice versa.
Alternately, the user can change the Text Zoom from the View menu.