Google Unveils Google Browser Size

December 17, 2009 – 4:27 pm by Pixeldust Interactive, Austin Web Design

With everything Google has been doing to enhance website efficiency lately (read: Google Site Performance and Google Caffeine), it comes as no surprise that they’ve introduced another layer to the web performance fold. Launched yesterday, Google Browser Size aims to help web designers and developers get the most out of a website by showing the parts of a site a user can see without scrolling.

With all the various combinations of browser settings, screen resolutions and monitor sizes, it’s hard to know if every user can access important buttons or links on your site, such as “Download” or “Subscribe.” Google Browser Size helps you figure out if you need to adjust or move any key elements. It works by overlaying a transparent, colored DIV on top of a website to show the exact pixel height and width users will see your site without scrolling. The numbers at the top and left depict the length and width of the screen. The colored DIVs (or blocks) indicate the percentage of users that can see your page.

As much as we like Browser Size, it seems like Google could take it one step further by adding Analytics or a plugin that collects and analyzes statistical data. Then developers and designers could really make some magic happen.