Google, Microsoft and the broader web community are working together to make it easier for developers to build websites that work seamlessly across browsers. They’ve teamed up for a cross-browser effort called #Compat2021, which aims to eliminate the top five browser compatibility pain points on the web for developers. The group identified the issues they decided to focus on based on usage data, number of bugs reports, survey feedback and test results. 

One of the most problematic issue that they want to address is with CSS Flexbox, since images as flex items are often stretched incorrectly and differently between browsers. They also want to improve CSS Grid so that it can be used to create animated grid layouts on Chromium and WebKit — at the moment, the ability is only supported in Gecko. The group wants to work on sticky positioning so that any content that’s stickied looks consistent across browsers, as well. Similarly, they want to make sure web elements maintain a consistent width-to-height ratio and that animations and 3D effects look the same whatever browser a user is on. 

Google and Microsoft are working on those improvements and issues for Chromium, which serves as the basis for both Chrome and Edge browsers. Those interested in how the group is doing can follow the project’s progress through the Compat 2021 Dashboard.