It might sound like just another excuse for a website developer to get a few more pounds out of an unwary client but making your website responsive is probably one of the most important improvements you could make in these days of mobile computing.

However, it’s one thing talking about a responsive website but what is it and how do you know if you have one? 

In this article we’ll talk a little about what a responsive website is and why it should matter to you. We’ll look at ways of checking your website responsiveness in the next article.

What Is A Responsive Website?

Lookup the word “responsive” on Google and it says “Responding readily and with interest or enthusiasm” whilst Dictionary.com says “responding especially readily and sympathetically“.

In its simplest form a responsive website is a website which can adapt to be viewed optimally regardless of what kind of device it is viewed on. To get an idea of what we mean by “adapt” and “optimally” and as a quick example take a look at your own website, or a favourite website, in a desktop computer browser, then on a smart phone, and if you have access to one, on a tablet. What did you notice?

It’s not essential, in responsive terms, for the site to “look the same” across all the devices, that’s often achieved through simple website scaling, but good responsiveness means it is important for your viewing experience to be optimal based on the device you are using. The website can achieve this by adapting to the requirements and limitations of the device.

In this sense “optimal” means the important information on each web page should be prioritised, clear and legible – the website content adapts to the requirements of the display device.

If you have to scroll in various directions a lot or resize the browsing window just to see a proper sentence or if an image clearly doesn’t fit the display view then the chances are your website isn’t highly responsive. That is to say it’s not responding, or adapting, appropriately to the device you are using. If however, the sentence is clear, the key content message is conveyed, and the image fits nicely, then even if the site layout has changed quite considerably then you just may have a responsive website.

Why Bother?

Some detractors from responsive design say responsiveness means compromise. Either compromising the design, consistency, or the content of a website. Some also say there should be multiple versions of a website: one specifically designed for larger display sizes, and one (or more) designed for mobile devices. Additionally, there is a school of thought that responsive design and adaptive design are different elements and should be considered separately.

Multiple versions of websites may have made sense in the time of smartphones however just what constitutes a mobile display device is no longer clear as tablets, e-readers, television based browsers, and other larger format devices have seen gains in popularity. A site designed for optimum display on a typical smartphone display of 640 x 960 (or 320 x 480 and 320 x 240) may not be appropriate for tablet displays of 2048 x 1536 (or 1024 x 768) and 1024 x 600. Also, making design changes and updates to multiple websites can be extremely time consuming, costly, and difficult to manage in the long run.

Website images are a key consideration for responsive design. Smashing Magazine said of images, “Most designers like pixel perfection, but “normal”-sized images on high-density devices look pixelated and blurry“.

It’s not just about being optimum either as a good responsive website also needs to adapt. Ethan Marcotte, writing for A List Apart, said “We can design for an optimal viewing experience, but embed standards-based technologies into our designs to make them not only more flexible, but more adaptive to the media that renders them“,

A web page often has just a few seconds to capture the attention of the viewer before they decide to stay or move on and so it could literally be the first and (unfortunately sometimes) the last impression a potential client has of your business or project. A web page that does not fit neatly onto a tablet display or one that cuts off important information, or shrinks text to an illegible size, on a smart phone could be the deciding factor for a viewer to leave your website. Consider the reasons a person visits a website. Perhaps it is to gain some information – if that information isn’t optimally accessible the viewer attention may become detracted.

Fortunately, a well thought out responsive design can adapt the content of your website to the right situation and present the important information on your website in a more optimum way.

Responsive websites are the future of websites for the short to mid-term. You should talk to your website developer about responsive design to find out if your site is designed, from the ground up, to be responsive. When it comes to website design companies there are plenty to choose from.

Hopefully, this article has gone some way to explaining the concept and importance of responsive design for websites. If you have tips or further information on responsive websites please join in the discussion in comments below.

In the next article we’ll take a look at how you can check the responsiveness of your website.