Media Queries not overriding native styles?

Question

I'm wondering why some of my media queries are not overriding the native styles at the view port their being called. I'm trying to restyle a menu responsively, to stack, and have the navigation area's height longer in a WP theme. But every which way I add the specs I create to get this effect via editing Live CSS in Safari or FF inspect element - the styles I insert under the specific viewport I'm targeting are not being read. I know I'm using media queries correctly as it reads NEW styles, just doesn't override native? I'm missing something here? Here's what I'm trying to add that won't read.

@media only screen and (min-device-width: 320px) and (max-device-width: 480px) {

#access li {
    float: none; // To translate to not to float to the left stack
    position: relative;
}

#access {
    background: url("http://testsite.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/menu_bg.gif") repeat scroll 0 0 transparent;
    box-shadow: 0 1px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.4);
    clear: both;
    display: block;
    float: left;
    height: 240px; //Changed the height to allow stack
    width: 100%;
}

Edit: Here's the FULL set of Responsive styles I'm calling, if matters.

  /* =Responsive Structure
----------------------------------------------- */

@media (max-width: 800px) {
    body {
        padding: 0;
    }
    #page {
        margin-top: 0; overflow: hidden;
    }
    #branding {
        border-top: none;
    }
        #signup { display:none; }
        #adbox { display:none; }
        #adbox2 { display:none; }
        #socialpost { margin-left: -100px; }
        p {font-size: 12px; }
        #sublogo { display: none; }
        #footcontain {  padding-left: 0;}

        #access a {
        color: #000000;
        display: block;
        font-family: arial;
        line-height: 3.11em;
        padding: 0 20px;
        text-decoration: none;
        #access a { font-size: 12px; }

        #access li {
        float: left;
        margin-left: -28px;
        position: relative; }
}

@media (max-width: 650px) {
    /* @media (max-width: 650px) Reduce font-sizes for better readability on smaller devices */
    body {
        padding: 0;
    }
    #page {
        margin-top: 0;
    }
    #branding {
        border-top: none;
    }
        #signup { display:none; }
        #adbox { display:none; }
        #adbox2 { display:none; }
        p {font-size: 12px; }
        #sublogo { display: none; }

        #access a {
         color: #000000;
         display: block;
         font-family: arial;
         line-height: 3.11em;
         padding: 0 13px;
         text-decoration: none;
         font-size: 11px;}
         #footcontain {  padding-left: 0;}
         #access a {
         padding: 0 15px; }

}

@media (max-width: 450px) {
        #content .gallery-columns-2 .gallery-item {
    width: 45%;
    padding-right: 4%;
    }
    #content .gallery-columns-2 .gallery-item img {
        width: 100%;
        height: auto;
    }
        #signup { display:none; }
        #adbox { display:none; }
        #adbox2 { display:none; }
        p {font-size: 10px; }

       .entry-content, .entry-summary {
        padding: 1.625em 0 0;
        width: 48%; }
        #footcontain {  padding-left: 0;}

        #branding #s {
       -moz-transition-duration: 400ms;
       -moz-transition-property: width, background;
       -moz-transition-timing-function: ease;
        float: right;
        height: 35px;
        width: 47px; }

        .widget-title { margin-top: 35px; }

        .flexslider .slides img {
         border: 0 none;
         display: block;
         max-width: 100%;
         padding-bottom: 25px; }
         #footcontain {  display:none;}

         #access li {
         float: none;
         position: relative;
         }

         #access {
         height: 70px;
         }

         #access a {
         color: #000000;
         display: block;
         font-family: arial;
         font-weight: bolder;
         line-height: 3.11em;
         padding: 0 10px;
         text-decoration: none;
         }

         #access ul {
         font-size: 10px;
         list-style: none outside none;
         margin: 0 0 0 -80px;
         padding-left: 0;
         }

        .flex-control-nav { display: none; }
        .flexslider {
         margin: 0 0 67px; }
        .flex-caption {  display: none; } //Could Display this here, need to make take half of slider

}

@media only screen and (min-device-width: 320px) and (max-device-width: 480px) {
    body { padding: 0; }

        #access {
        height: 70px;
        }

    #page {
        margin-top: 0; overflow: hidden;
    }
    #branding {
        border-top: none;
    }
        #signup { display:none; }
        #adbox { display:none; }
        #adbox2 { display:none; }
        p {font-size: 10px; }
        #sublogo { display: none; }
        #access a { padding: 0 10px; }

        #access li {
        float: none;
        position: relative;
        }

       .entry-content, .entry-summary {
        padding: 1.625em 0 0;
        width: 35%; }
        #footcontain {  display: none; }

       #branding #s {
         -moz-transition-duration: 400ms;
         -moz-transition-property: width, background;
         -moz-transition-timing-function: ease;
         float: right;
         height: 35px;
         width: 47px; }

        #footcontain { display: none; }

        .widget-title { margin-top: 35px; } //Attempt to Create Space for Slider Page Nation
        #access { height: 70px; }

        #access li {
        float: none;
        position: relative;
        }

       .flex-control-nav { display: none; }

       .flex-caption {  display: none; } //Could Display this here, need to make take half of slider, check 
       .flexslider {
       margin: 0 0 67px; }

}

Answer 1

The CSS code from your post is not working because it's a device-specific style and you are viewing it on a Safari, Chrome or Firefox using a laptop/desktop. You are forgetting that Media Queries are giving you the possibility to apply different styles when a page is being displayed in a 'browser' - resized to 480px and on an iPhone (which has a max-device-width of 480px).

Example CSS:

/* max-width */
@media screen and (max-width: 480px) {
    .one {
        background: #F9C;
    }
}

/* min-width & max-width */
@media screen and (min-width: 480px) and (max-width: 900px) {
    .two {
        background: #9CF;
    }
}

/* min-width */
@media screen and (min-width: 900px) {
    .three {
        background: #F90;
    }
}

/* iphone specific css */
@media screen and (max-device-width: 480px) {
    .iphone {
        background: #ccc;
    }
}

In the example above you can target both and still have a separate style for your device of choice. If you want to test it in a browser just use the min-width or max-width properties.

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

On the top example there's a missing closing bracket.

@media only screen and (min-device-width: 320px) and (max-device-width: 480px) {

  #access li {
    float: none; // To translate to not to float to the left stack
    position: relative;
  }

  #access {
    background: url("http://testsite.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/menu_bg.gif") repeat scroll 0 0 transparent;
    box-shadow: 0 1px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.4);
    clear: both;
    display: block;
    float: left;
    height: 240px; //Changed the height to allow stack
    width: 100%;
  }
}