There’s no single device that people use to access the internet today. They have tier desktops, tablets, and their second skin- mobile phones. Throughout their customer journey, they interact with a brand through different digital touchpoints. And it is a brand’s responsibility to show them similar experiences across all points of interaction.
That’s where responsive web design comes into the picture.
In an age when a uniform customer experience across all platforms is the most expected by users, having a device-agnostic web presence is a must-have. Businesses are required to have a responsive web presence that adapts to any screen size their end-users are interacting with.
A responsive website is one that is fluid and flows seamlessly into any screen size – desktops, laptops, tablets, mobile phones, and others.
Whether one is building a website by hiring remote developers or developing it on their own or through any other approach, one thing they should know about is the frameworks for responsive web design.
This blog highlights the top seven frameworks that one can use to build responsive websites.
1. Bootstrap
Bootstrap is hands down one of the first names that come to mind when you think of responsive website design. If you have knowledge of responsive web applications, Bootstrap is one name you couldn’t have missed out on. One of the most popular frameworks for building responsive web application designs is Bootstrap.
With basic knowledge of HTML and CSS, one can create awesome responsive web applications using this framework. The development team or the front-end developers can build fluid web pages using HTML and CSS components that seamlessly flow into any screen size. The grid component of Bootstrap makes it even easier to style the web pages as per different screen sizes.
2. Laravel
Another popular framework that many businesses have been using to build their responsive web design is Laravel. This framework had been in the development landscape for quite a long and recently gained huge popularity.
The Laracasts plugin and Tailwind CSS in Laravel allow you to build responsive website designs that are similar to Bootstrap. The unprefixed utilities of this framework can smoothly respond to all screen sizes. It also has prefixed utilities that respond only at particular points.
It even eliminates the need to render design codes at the initial build time. Its just-in-time mode allows developers to generate styles on-demand as and when required.
3. Pure CSS
Following the mobile-first strategy is crucial for any business today, considering the high influx of mobile users. Pure CSS follows the mobile-first approach in building responsive web designs. It comes with several sets of smaller CSS modules. These modules are very lightweight and can easily be used in any type of web project.
Using the HTML elements, layout, style, and UI components, Pure CSS makes it extremely easy for anyone to create a responsive website. The website created using Pure CSS can easily fit any screen size like desktop, mobile, iPads, tablets, and more. There is zero cross-browser compatibility issue when you create a responsive website using this framework.
4. Foundation
Whether you are approaching the mobile-first strategy or making your website downsize from larger screens to smaller screen sizes, Foundation is a great front-end framework for responsive designing. Based on the HTML5 framework, this framework comes with rapid prototyping capabilities which allow you to build your website iteratively.
It claims to be the most advanced responsive framework in the world for front-end designing. Foundation is pretty easy to learn if you are planning to build an awesome responsive website with a cutting-edge set of building blocks. With its pre-defined simple styles for navigation, buttons, tabs, typography, etc., Foundation eliminates the need to write custom CSS. If you are looking to build something quickly, Foundation is the framework to go with.
5. Skeleton
The next framework that has gained a lot of popularity for responsive web designs is Skeleton. This clean and simple CSS boilerplate is great for all types of HTML5 websites and applications. It doesn’t come with any fluff that could make it difficult for anyone to build a website. The clean layout is what makes it stand out.
It has standard media queries, a responsive layout grid, and even a PSD template for creating mockups of your web designs. The CSS class that it has for responsive image elements enables the websites built with Skeleton to scale along with the layout grid it offers.
6. Simple Grid
This is another open-source CSS framework that helps in building web applications with a responsive design. Developers working on any web project can use Simple Grid to get exceptional results while working with different layouts. No matter what device or screen size your end users are trying to access your site, if it is built on Simple Grid, it will display beautifully.
One does not need expert skills to build a website using the Simple Grid framework. The lightweight CSS has a 12-column grid, making it easy and quick for anyone to build a responsive website.
7. React.js
For those working with React, React Responsive is an npm package that allows you to build truly responsive designs. This is especially great for those looking for mobile-first designs. This framework provides the developers with the power to create flawless responsive designs that fit any screen size without any issue.
The best part, the structural integrity of the design stays intact despite the screen size you view it on. This framework works pretty great when you are building a React application and want it to flow into different screen sizes without any glitch. Just a few additions in the code by your React developer and react responsive would work its magic.
These are some of the popular web design frameworks that one can use to build responsive websites. Those trying to speed up their web development process can make use of these frameworks and have a website that seamlessly fits any screen size. You can choose from the above-mentioned frameworks and use this for developing websites that are responsive across different devices.
