what is the smallest screen resolution that I should care when building a website?

Question

So what's the lowest screen resolution, especially width, that I should consider when building a website.

Purely responsive/fluid design is best! So far I've had success with this in multiple browsers, older browsers and almost all mobile devices. Without a fixed width it'll fit itself in. The only browsers that truly suck are IE6 and nokia e series browser.. — Dom, Mar 23 '13 at 23:19
This question appears to be off-topic because it is more appropriate for Programmers.SE. — Jim G., Jul 15 '13 at 14:35

score 9 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 08 '12 at 05:09

9

Here is the link which show browser resolution statistics and trends yearwise -

It shows that as of 2012 -

Date   Higher     1024x768 800x600    640x480    Other
2012   85%        13%      1%         0%         1%

answered Jun 08 '12 at 05:09

Kshitij

8,474
2
26
34

7

This statistic only takes desktops into account. According to http://gs.statcounter.com/ , currently 18% of global web visits are from mobiles. – larspars Oct 11 '13 at 06:49

score 5 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 08 '12 at 05:14

5

Mobile devices with 320×480 or 480×800, I guess. But they should get a completely different layout on most sites.

Normal monitors should have at least 1024×768 nowadays, unless you want people visiting your site directly after installing Windows without video drivers yet ;)

answered Jun 08 '12 at 05:14

Joey

344,408
85
689
683

Does this means I should add `body { min-width: 320px }` this makes my life easier – John Magnolia Apr 10 '14 at 08:56
No you don't have to, if your lay-out is completely messed up under a width of 320 nobody will notice – call-me Jun 06 '15 at 14:02

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 08 '12 at 05:09

2

Add this in header section. This automatically fit

<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" />

answered Jun 08 '12 at 05:09

ebattulga

10,774
20
78
116

score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Jun 08 '12 at 05:19

It depends on what website you are building, your content, your target user's age group/demographics and other info.
Prevalent minimum screen resolution for older desktop is 800x600.
1. Age group: Older people tend to use lower resolution (800 or 1024) due to weaker eyesight.
2. Does your users have updated machines : Nowadays, modern PC's resolution start with 1024x768. and most common resolution used is 1280

Check your potential user group. Also it'll depend on content that you will have in your page. Avoid design which will make user scroll horizontally.
These are just few pointers. Actual web-development has to take many points into consideration.

what is the smallest screen resolution that I should care when building a website?

4 Answers4