Philadelphia businesses know there are endless amounts of e-commerce websites available, to the point where customers find it challenging to choose where they’d like to shop.  With the following e-commerce web design strategies, you’ll be able to get a leg up on the competition and understand which e-commerce strategies should be emulated.  The following are successful web design trends and web development strategies.

Useful (and Basic) e-Commerce Web Design Tips:  Philadelphia Web Development

1. Categorize your products and items properly, so customers can easily find what they’re looking for.  You’ll have to designate which categories and sub categories are appropriate so viewers are exposed to all site essentials and can efficiently navigate around.
2. Product descriptions are also necessary.  You’ll need to write clear and informative product descriptions, using SEO keywords when necessary for every product on your site.  Viewers like to know what it is they’re buying.
3. Keep it simple, keep it clear. Very clearly display all price related information next to products to maintain a level of trust with customers.  This means in addition to prices, you’ll need to prominently display discounts, special offers, shipping charges, or any other costs if they exist.
4. Make it easy for customers to pay. Your e-commerce website shopping cart should support as many payment options as are available, from PayPal, Credit Card, Google Checkout, etc so customers are provided with a variety of payment methods to accommodate the means of checkout they feel most secure with.
5. Security, assurance, confirmation. Keep in mind to only require the information necessary from customers so potential clients aren’t overwhelmed and lose focus.  Also, your customers will need a payment receipt or confirmation receipt after they’ve gone ahead and made a purchase, so remember to provide one.

Specific e-Commerce Web Design Tips:

Amazon.com’s success has come from much testing, retesting, and optimization, and remains the envy of many e-commerce marketers.  We can learn a thing or two from them and apply it to our own website in the process of web design and web development.  Several of these e-commerce web design trends don’t only look great, but they obviously work.

1. Offer your customers more then one picture to look at, preferably several that can be blown up, zoomed in, and viewed at many different angles.
2. Set up your ecommerce platform to offer comparison shopping.  This includes recommended products based upon consumer’s previous purchases, related items, or items “frequently bought together”.
3. Don’t underestimate the power of “big”.  Big is a popular web design trend, especially for e-commerce websites.  Modern, clear, and prominent designs are in—big logos, openly displayed coupons, and large images make large impressions.  This strategy also serves as a “call-to-action”.
4. Open source e-commerce platforms are easy to customize, convey professionalism, make navigation easy, and are easy to implement.  One e-commerce feature is “content sliders”, a very popular web design feature that displays a slideshow result of products/items for easy browsing and customer interaction.  Not only that, they serve as an easy way to manage and display content.  There are many customizable options available—choose one that best suits your product choices and page content.  Walmart, Borders, and Nordstrom make use of these.

Philadelphia businesses, explore your web design and web development options.  Incorporating the aforementioned e-commerce web designs is a sure way to improve user experience and gain a competitive advantage.  Learn more—discuss e-commerce options with a company that specializes in Philadelphia web design and Philadelphia web development.

This is was an important announcement because mobile devices are fast becoming a common thing in our life, and mobile handsets and smart phones are being used as shopping devices. Using a mobile store, customers can conveniently purchase whenever and wherever they want via a streamlined payment process.  In fact mobile commerce has been identified as a new retail channel called m-commerce, and Philadelphia Website Design firms will soon be asked to begin building compatible applications.

Magento’s website boasts the following: Welcome to the world’s first mobile commerce platform. With Magento mobile, you can easily create branded, native storefront applications that are deeply integrated with Magento’s market-leading eCommerce platform.

So why the excitement about mobile commerce apps?

Many industry experts predict that mobile is the next “frontier” for commerce. There are two ways that users interact with ecommerce sites on mobile devices:  mobile web (browser) apps and native mobile apps.  Mobile web apps involve using themes to optimize the store website so that it renders well on phones and mobile devices.  Native mobile apps allow users to engage more deeply with ecommerce sites on their mobile devices.   Some native mobile applications even allow a user to begin making a purchase, add things into their shopping basket, and finish the purchase from a mobile device. This is becoming an important trend in mobile applications especially since eBay announced that they project $1.5 billion in mobile sales this year.

However the current m-commerce technology is inadequate to meet retailer’s demands, and there is a lack of universal standards. Magento Mobile is one of the first attempts to meet retailer’s needs with native commerce apps for mobile devices, and the meet up with Philadelphia Website Design representatives helped to convey the features of the platform to developers.

Philadelphia website design representatives were quick to point out that native mobile applications are complicated to manage and expensive to build.  Magento’s new mobile native application works only for the iPhone now, but it features commerce, customizable themes that include background images and button colors, and integration with your existing ecommerce and merchandizing tools, at affordable prices.   And the Magento representative on hand indicated that an Android compatible version of Magento Mobile will soon be released.

A: A fantastic customized search experience for searchers, and more web traffic and visibility for you, if you web design with Web 3.0 in mind.

Web 3.0, according to some Internet experts will allow you to do less and your browser to do more.  You’ll be able to search more specifically—your browser will then gather, analyze, and then present the data to you based on the detailed or narrow parameters of your search.  Web 3.0 has a greater understanding of all information present on the web, and can efficiently and more effectively deliver it.

When using search engines today, you still have to work with them or “guide” them to display the best search results—they still don’t fully “comprehend” what you are seeking.  Search engines scour the net for web pages that contain the keywords or phrases you’ve searched for.  Web 2.0 browsers can’t confirm to you that the page displayed is relevant to your query, it can only confirm a keyword match.  (For instance, if you’re searching for pictures of a jaguar, Google will display an almost even mix of cars and cats).  Web 3.0 will be able to understand context and deliver a more appropriate search results, along with a match for the keywords you’ve entered.

Let’s say for instance you want to go on a vacation, perhaps a cruise around the Mediterranean.  With Web 3.0, you’ll be able to type “Mediterranean cruise under $4,000” and receive a variety of results related to your query, beyond typical cruise results including restaurants, activities, ticket prices, and other suggestions.  Web 3.0 puts the entire Internet—and all contextually related information—at your searching fingertips.

Web 3.0:  What to Expect

Most Internet experts agree that Web 3.0 will possess the following general traits.

• An overall “rich” and “relevant” browsing experience.
• The possibility of a unique browsing experience, based on what you’ve previously browsed for—you could be entering the same keywords as someone else, but will receive different results based on previous queries and profiles.  (Think of Pandora, the music genome project.  Pandora relies on trial and error to provide individualized content and music selections based on previous likes and dislikes.  Web 3.0 may be similar to this, but perhaps more efficient.
• A tailored web experience based on browsing habits and individual tastes.
• The overall transformation of the web into a database of information, with content made available by non-browsing applications as well.
• Overall focus on usability:  search engines returning fewer and better results, with less spam and online scams.

What Will This Entail for Web Design?

We’re already communicating, publishing, shopping, and sharing more quickly and easily, as data, content, and people are far more accessible then ever before.  Web 3.0 will take that to the next level—it’ll match information exactly to where it’s needed.  Web designers will have to design with that new experience in mind.

Web Design With Web 3.0 in Mind:  The Future of Web Design

Test the source of all web pages for semantic richness—content should be readable by both humans and web applications.  The clearer your content, the easier time search engines and other applications will have indexing and then displaying those results to users.

Web design 3.0 means web design for mobile devices, such as iPhones, Blackberry, iPads, and other computing devices.  Test existing web pages for compliance with all computing devices to ensure all users to have accessibility to your content.  Web design should always take mobile devices into consideration for Web 3.0.

Have your web designer verify that all HTML web pages do not use outdated or ineffectual table tags and coding. In addition, verify that all content as free of errors for optimal search engine indexing and search.  This will ensure you are Web 3.0 ready.

By now, most web designers know that Flash and Search Engines aren’t compatible. Web design with web 3.0 in mind will avoid using flash for content-related purposes.  If you must use flash, do so only for accent purposes, if at all.  The future of flash-compatibility with Web 3.0, iPads, and other devices are unknown.

Web design for Web 3.0 should involve the customization of website templates. Creating the optimal look and feel for users and search engine entails optimizing a template that complies with the W3C, search engines, and provides a superior user experience.

Web design with SEO in mind. Your web designer should work hand-in-hand with a SEO specialist to ensure that your website will rank highly in the Search Engine Results Pages, providing you the visibility that you want.  Effective web design will achieve heavy traffic to your website, and web design combined with smart SEO will deliver the bottom-line results you want, even as the internet continues to change.

It’s absolutely crucial to have a blog for fresh content. Google also recognizes and ranks websites that have blogs higher then those without.  You’ll be reaching out to your audience and connecting with potential clients, and you’ll be driving traffic to your website. If visitors find your content compelling, they’ll link to it and increase your site’s PageRank.

Here are a few helpful tips for Law Blogs.  When blogging, remember to:

-Use relevant SEO keywords.

-Write frequently.

-Educate your readers, not “sell” them or promote your services.

A blog will help you reach the kind of clients you want and drive the web traffic your law practice needs.  Fresh and relevant content demonstrates to your clients that you’re a valuable resource.  If you’re consistent in your posting and you connect with readers, you’ll have a popular blog.

Here Are a Few Other Great Tips:

Host a blog on your own domain—WordPress for example is free, and easily customizable. If you frequently publish valuable content, people will link to you, increasing the page rank of your website.   Write content about the legal issues you care about as well as those which deal with the type of cases you want to work on.  You’ll attract the customers you want.

Keep your blog posts simple and discuss areas that are relevant to your practice. Whenever possible, inject as much personality into each blog post as you can to make individuals want to read what you’re writing.  You’ll not only connect with your readers, but your information won’t seem stale.

Establish which keywords you’d like to use—relevant keywords let search engines know how to index your entries and lead new clients to your website. Find out your targeted audience—the demographic you’d like to reach and write about issues targeting them.

When writing articles/blog posts for the web, keep them short and to the point. Blog posts should typically be around 300-500 words—your readers will appreciate this, and the search engines will have an easier time indexing your posts.  Excellent topics include “How To” guides and helpful information that’ll educate and guide your readers, as well as engage your clients.  Encourage them to contact you personally for more information.

Open your blog up to comments and questions, and follow up with people.  If you’re interacting with your readers, they’ll perceive you as a valuable resource and “real” and knowledgeable person.

Of course, the very best way to blog is to do it yourself, since you are the one who knows your business best.  Before starting a blog, consult with an experienced SEO professional and let them inform you how to write specialized content.  With work, family time, and everything else that needs to get done, you may not have the time to create pages and pages of fresh content.  In these cases, you can hire a “Ghost Writer” to create content for you.  Provided with resources and your guidance, they can develop articles and blog posts that you’ll be happy with.

Is your website SEO friendly?  Here’s our Checklist for Making Lawyer Websites Popular With Search Engines.
Read the next blog post on Lawyer SEO/Internet Marketing Strategies…

DO

• Use web-safe fonts wherever possible: http://www.ampsoft.net/webdesign-l/WindowsMacFonts.html
  The only areas where it’s OK to NOT use web-safe fonts are where images will intentionally be used to display text.  ie. logos, slide shows, image captions, etc…
• Design for 1024 x 768 screen resolution.  The generally accepted width of a design optimized for this resolution would be 966px wide.
• Design a page footer area with room for additional navigation, copyright, and credits for the development company.
• Provide “examples” in the design for any dynamic functionality. ie: drop down menus, mouse rollovers, hover states, etc…
• Design for easy reading with expandable fonts – Make your backgrounds as light as possible. If  the client insists on a background image, restrict it to the side, out of the way of the text, and make it very light
• Be conscious of laptop and wide screens – most computer screens are wider than they are tall, so it makes sense to keep text line length short and put navigation on the left or drop-down from the top of the screen.
• Include contact information on header and footer
• Use graphics resolution not greater than 96 dpi which works well on both windows and MAC machines
• Use reduced color palettes to keep essential graphics (especially any in navigation) under 10K.
• Use recurring visual elements for consistency – and make sure that you can reproduce all graphics. You might need another one of the same kind, so be sure to write down all the effects and the parameters used to create graphics.
• Use borders and white space and don’t cram your design to the edges

DON’T

• Use rounded corners on design elements unless absolutely necessary for the design.
• Use gradients excessively or otherwise develop an “image intensive” design.
• Crop the design at the absolute right/left and bottom edges.  Leave a good amount of blank space on the left/right and bottom of the design to show the developer how the web site (and backgrounds) will function as the browser is maximized and/or resized.
• Just convert print media for use on the web.
• Style input buttons (on forms) wherever possible.  Using the browser’s default gray input buttons is a web standard.
• Don’t OVER Design a huge header.  Remember that if visitors have to scroll to get to the  content on the web page, the header is far too large.

Additional Do’s  and Don’ts For Ecommerce Web Sites

DO

• Provide an area on the header or left nav bar for the following links:  Login, View Cart.  These links need to appear on every page of the web site.
• Try to accommodate a vertical left or right hand navigation bar for the cart’s product catalog.  This can be in addition to a main navigation bar, or part of the main nav bar if the main nav is vertical.
• Provide an area for a “Search” input box and associated submit button.  This should also appear on every page of the web site.

DON’T

• Use a background color on the “content area” of the cart that’s anything other than WHITE, unless the client has specified otherwise.  Integrating most carts into a design that’s not white increases hours.
• Develop a narrow “content area.”  Ecommerce web sites generally need to utilize a nice wide area of the design in order to accommodate the checkout process.  Leave at least 600px of horizontal space for the ecommerce pages to “live.”

And finally, please remember that web design is an art, and what we say here may not be what your client wants. Don’t take our word for it.  There is no real “best practice or standard” for web design, and this list is constructed for the purpose of creating cost effective, user friendly web pages that are easy to program and work in all current browsers.   In all cases, designers should please the client, and it is the programmer’s job to make the design work.

Every website owner will at some point undergo a website redesign to improve the site, or bring it up to date on web standards.  The decision to redesign a website should not be made lightly because it is fraught with hidden costs and ramifications.  The more planning and the better prepared you are, the less impact to your business during a website redesign. Planning the entire website redesign will save you time, money and resources in the long run.

First you should determine if it is absolutely necessary to redesign your website.  If you can list at least three reasons for a website redesign that make good business sense, then a site redesign is probably a good idea.  To start your planning, begin making a list:

• List the redesign goals and current website goals.
• Take your best guess about the amount of money it will cost for a redesign. Make sure it is a good use of your marketing dollars and the time your staff will spend working on the project.
• Do not plan a redesign that corresponds with a peak sales cycle.

Addressing The Goals of the Website and Writing an RFQ:

Talk to your visitors, friends and colleagues about what would make the website function better.

• Identify your target audience.
• Identify the goals for the website.
• Identify what you want your visitors to do on the website.
• Make sure your staff can keep the website current.
• Decide if you will use a Content Management System (CMS) to update your own web pages or you will use static HTML web pages.
• Decide if you will be switching hosting at the same time as you are doing the redesign – consider any email address impacts if this is the case.
• Identify well-respected web design firms.
• Decide on a budget for the redesign project.

After you have answered these initial questions, you are ready to write a request for proposals (RFP). This will include a project description, a timeline, a budget, and a more detailed description of deliverables and goals.

Preserving Search Engine Rankings for Redesign

In order to measure the success of your website redesign, you will need to save the current analytics information and search positions of the keyword phrases for your current website. Make sure you have enough data about the current site to compare search rankings, visitors, and website goals.

Most established websites have a presence on search engines and certain search engine rankings on keywords that bring in visitors.  If you change your website, you risk losing your hard-earned search engine rankings. If you change the page names, you will have to direct search engines to the new page using permanent redirects to ensure that the pages that used to rank for phrases still do.  Before you begin a website redesign, you should review analytics on the site and identify important content that is currently ranking and make sure that you convert it over to the new design.

Other things to consider in order to preserve search rankings include site architecture, URL structure, page optimization, links pointing to the site and site interlinking. Changing any of these items can impact your search engine rankings.

Sending Out the RFQ

Send your RFQ to only a few carefully selected web design companies. In the RFQ, ask for examples of their work and references. Include specific examples of sites you like and dislike to give the firm a concrete idea of your ultimate redesign look and usability. Include your logo, font, color palette and design guidelines if you have them.

Once you’ve selected a company, they will work with you to create a Statement of Work (SOW) which is a signed agreement outlining deliverables and expectations on both sides, pricing, timing and payment information.

Inventory Your Content

Review the content on the current site and decide if it needs to be reorganized, contained in the new site, or expanded upon.  Update or remove any data that is incorrect, outdated, or incomplete.  Categorize all remaining content.  If you think you want to include more content, go through your existing newsletters, files, brochures, and other marketing material you can add to the site to help make it a better user experience.  In many cases, if your existing website does not have a supplementary article section or blog, you will want to add one.  If you don’t have enough articles and stories to populate your new blog, make sure you have budgeted time to write new content.  You don’t have to wait until the site is live, and the web development firm will appreciate all content sent in electronic format as soon as it is approved. One key element in understanding the flow of the pages on the new site is the site navigation and sitemap. Create an excel type spread sheet showing how old pages correspond to new pages. This will significantly cut down on design and programming and also helps you envision how the new site navigation will work.

Website Wireframes

Before any branding or design is applied to a site, it is a good idea to develop a website wireframe.  The wireframe is a structural diagram that helps a team visualize the relationships between the site’s pages.  Another aim is to identify what structural elements should appear on each page.  A wireframe helps the design and engineering team understand your vision of the website and how it should function.

Design Mock Ups

At this point, the Web design team usually will show you several mockups of the web design. It is very important to review these carefully and ask questions about functionality.  It is much cheaper to modify your site during the initial design phase than during the implementation phase. It is important to try to visualize how a user will navigate through the site using just a home page and internal page design layout.  The more often you ask your design team to rework the layout, the more expensive the site will be, but it is still cheaper to do it at this point in the process than to wait until the design goes to the programming team.  The web designers will probably schedule a meeting to review how they envision the site will work, and ask you to sign off on the design before proceeding to programming.

Items to Note for a Design in 2010

Many current Web 2.0 or Web 3.0 websites follow these conventions:

• Many sites make use of a CMS and social networking software to facilitate communication on the website.
• Shopping cart software works with as few page changes as possible to simplify the shopping process.  Shipping rates and price discounts are identified as early in the shopping process as possible, and products can be cross-sold, up-sold, rated and commented upon, and search features are more robust to easily allow shoppers to find the specific items they want.
• Shopping carts should be checked to make sure “in stock” products work, but don’t necessarily show the number left in stock.
• Shopping cart shipping time should be correct or overestimated so that customers receive their products when they think they will.
• If your site requires secure pages (for accepting credit card information or protecting private data) you will need to purchase and install an SSL certificate.
• Sites should be clean, fast loading, easy to navigate, and provide a user experience that makes people want to return.
• Avoid Flash introductions.
• Include videos, but avoid “must-view” videos that start playing on the home page, especially video with sound.
• Avoid technology that forces visitors to download software in order to navigate the site.
• Include a place for press releases, include a blog, and include an RSS feed.
• Include links to social sites, bookmarking, and make sure that it is easy to share your pages.
• Ensure the site works on all latest versions of browsers.
• Do not require a Login unless it is necessary – make the user experience as simple and quick as possible.
• Plan for Search Engine Friendly URLs instead of long URLs without any search words.

Programming the Site Redesign

Programmers will usually develop the site on a test server where you can follow along in the process.  The test server resembles your live production server as much as possible. Since content from the live site will probably be used for the new site, you should stop making any changes to the live site from this point on.

You may want to let your site users know that they could be affected by the redesign if this applies to them.

Testing The Redesigned Website

Before going to launch, there are several aspects of the site that need to be tested. The programmers will probably already have performed functionality testing, but you should go in at this point and make sure all the features work the way you envisioned. You may want to try some usability testing where you ask people who have never visited the site before to perform simple tasks, like finding a product, buying something, contacting someone, or retrieving a piece of information. If you expect a large number of visitors coming to your new site, make sure to have your programmers test with tools that simulate excessive traffic.

Launching the Redesigned Website

After testing is complete, the site is ready to move to the production server. The programmers will then back up your existing website so you can go back to it in the event of an emergency. Follow the checklist for going live. Finally, it is nice to send your newsletter subscribers an email letting them know about the brand new site, and perhaps offering them special incentive to visit it.

Checklist for Going Live

• Validate the HTML and CSS using this tool: http://validator.w3.org/
• Check for broken links: http://valet.webthing.com/link/
• Check that Robots.txt is correctly set up
• Check that Sitemap.xml is correctly set up
• Check that all “no follow” meta tags are removed unless otherwise indicated
• Check the site on various window sizes
• Check the site for various font sizes
• Check the site speed to make sure it loads quickly – you can use:  http://www.iwebtool.com/speed_test
• Check errors and image sizes: http://www.netmechanic.com/products/HTML_Toolbox_FreeSample.shtml
• If your site will be used by site impaired people, check accessibility using: http://valet.webthing.com/access/
• Check your site on all current browsers
• Test SSL Certificate if applicable
• Optional – Check that Google Analtyics is installed correctly and goals identified
• Optional – Set up Google webmaster tools
• Add verification files for Google, Yahoo and Bing in meta tags
• Print the pages of your site to make sure they look right
• Turn off Javascript and make sure your site still functions
• Turn off plug-ins like FLASH and make sure your site still functions
• Turn off images and make sure your site still functions.
• Double check the contact forms, payment gateways, shopping cart transactions, and other functionality

Planning a website re-design can be expensive and time consuming. The trick is to plan carefully and find the right balance between strong search engine optimization and usability, test thoroughly and plan carefully.

When most people visit websites, they assume the animated material is Flash.  That’s not always the case.  Due to the growing popularity of JavaScript frameworks, there are now a variety of exciting options for incorporating animations and animated material into your website that don’t involve Flash, which can’t be read by search engines.

You want your website to be creative and interactive, but you also want to show up in the SERPS.  You don’t have to sacrifice any optimization with jQuery.  It serves as an excellent tool for front-end developers to present information to the end user in more interesting ways.  The fact that jQuery website animation uses JavaScript to manipulate DOM objects, (represented with HTML and styled with CSS) makes it easy to stay SEO friendly because you can reveal and hide content from the user with effects, but still keep the same page markup for search crawlers.

If you’re interested in jQuery animation for your website, check out these 6 cool website animation techniques:

1.   jQuery Cycle: http://malsup.com/jquery/cycle/

A great way to display your images!

This useful plugin can be used to create slideshows of images without the need for Flash.  You can use this to display a gallery of images and choose the manner you’d like the images to transition.  Effects include Shuffle, Zoom, Fade, Turn Down, Curtain, and Scroll.

Boomtown uses this jQuery animation here: www.boomtownig.com

2.   jQuery Accordion: http://jqueryui.com/demos/accordion/

Manage your content.

The jQuery Accordion can help you display lots and lots of content in a condensed form that’s still visible to search engines, but doesn’t overload users’ senses. 

RCD Technology uses the accordion plugin to successfully manage their content:  http://www.rcdtechnology.com

3.  Form Validation: http://jquery.malsup.com/form/

Doing client-side form validation is made much easier with the jQuery forms plugin.

Widely regarded as one of the best jQuery plugins, Form Validation involves doing things like checking that all required fields were filled out and, if so, were they filled out to a required specification (e.g. correctly formatted phone numbers or dates), enabling you to get the information you need.

4.   Superfish: http://users.tpg.com.au/j_birch/plugins/superfish/#examples

Create a cross-browser multi-level horizontal or vertical navigation.

The jQuery Superfish plugin is great for managing drop down and multi-level navigation.  With the Superfish navigation plugin, you’ll be able to showcase and direct visitors to the many webpages your site has to offer.

It’s used for the navigation in the orange top menu of the Boomtown site and blog:  www.boomtownig.com

5.   Subtle Animation Effects: http://www.rcdtechnology.com/rfid-applications/partners-customers/

Create subtle animation effects for page items and images. (You can view these by mousing over the partner logos).

The creation of these effects for page items adds different movement to images.

6.   Or you can use any of the widgets in the jQuery UI to enhance user experience:
http://jqueryui.com/demos/

We hope these 6 tools will inspire you to explore all that jQuery has to offer—there are numerous other plugins and website animation techniques as well.  Learn more about jQuery and what it can do for your website!

After dealing with rounded corner images, CSS hacks, javascript hacks, and extraneous markup hacks for years, I decided it was time to put this thing to rest and come up with a solution that works for every design I’m translating into CSS, no matter where the rounded corners appear (nav bar, floating divs, on images, on background images, etc…)

If you know anything about me you know that I’m a stickler for semantic markup and clean code in general. XHTML and CSS that validate. So you’ll get an idea of my frustration level with this rounded corner issue when you hear that the solution I’ve settled upon doesn’t validate CSS. Yes that’s right. However I’m sleeping just fine and I’m quite happy that this solution is keeping me from spending 20 hours to create a style sheet!

So what is it you ask?

In short, I’m using native CSS rounded corner support for all browsers except IE… and for IE I’m implementing the BEST javascript-based rounded corner solution I’ve found to date: DD_roundies. So in my CSS I use the standard Gecko and Webkit syntax for achieving my rounded corners. I then use conditional comments to include the DD_roundies solution for any version of IE. It’s that simple.

I’ve tried EVERY single rounded corner javascript library out there. I’m not kdding… at least 20 different solutions. None work as well in IE as DD_roundies. In fact, conditional comments aren’t even 100% necessary since DD_roundies won’t invoke on any browser except the IE’s! So in the end I get a style sheet that validates EVERYTHING except the border-radius properties, and a design that can include rounded corners almost anywhere I desire. It’s a sacrifice I’m willing to live with.