There are a boatload of blogs and articles about Internet Explorer 6, its lack of standards compliance and whether designers and developers should cater for this disgracefully-aging browser. Big sites and brands are getting involved too; .net magazine published this article last month, mentioning Facebook's recent drop of IE6 support, as well as Apple's (albeit unsurprising) refusal to let IE6 users use their MobileMe service. Google was even among the list. With names like that shunning the eight-year old browser, as well as a veritable smorgasbord of alternative software from which to choose, it certainly seems that the reaper is knocking on IE6's overly-worn door.
Despite this, some clients, and indeed members of our own team here at OTB, insist on pandering to IE6's every whim and bug. This has confused me since I started at OTB; I've been here for about six months, and one of the focuses in my interview process was an emphasis on clean, standards-compliant code. Yet for particular websites I'm almost encouraged to throw W3C standards out of our second-floor studio window in favour of nasty CSS hacks and workarounds. These aren't small websites and clients either - in fact, the larger and more corporate the client, the more IE6 compliance seems to play a part.
I'm determined this won't be the stereotypical rant about IE6 and how much it's despised - it's just not productive. I fully understand that there are a couple of reasons why clients, particularly larger ones, require their sites to look good in IE6:
- Big companies have large IT infrastructures; a software upgrade is a major and expensive undertaking, so upgrading a browser/operating system that, for all intents and purposes, works, will come fairly low down on the techies' list of 'Things to Do'
- Although many take it for granted, not everyone is as IT literate as the web design/development community - an upgrade for some people can be scary or just seen as unnecessary
The difficulty seems to be in where to draw the line. Should we cater for IE6 users as standard? Should we shun IE6 completely when building a new website? More importantly for us, should we shun IE6 completely when building our own, new OTB website?
Should we cater for IE6 users as standard?
My answer to this is: absolutely not. Internet Explorer 6 is eight years old, and two clear versions behind the latest Microsoft release.
Some development schools of thought encourage 'punishing' the users of IE6 with a substandard web experience. I don't believe in this at all, since, as mentioned earlier, some people have no choice about which browser they're using. That said, I reject any claim (that means you, designers!) that sites should look pixel perfect in every browser including IE6. If built correctly, sites will usually look 'OK' in IE6, and I think that's more than good enough.
Should we shun IE6 completely when building a new website?
This one is tricky; I'd say 'yes' unless a client specifically requires their site to be build with IE6 in mind. To my mind, the only reason they would require this IE6 compliance is if their previous site statistics indicate that the vast majority of their users hae accessed the site using IE6, or the IT infrastructure of the client would prevent them from viewing their own site correctly. Even in these instances, a good case should be made by developers/designers/consultants to push code which validates over IE6 quirks. While you may appear to receive no tangible benefit for your efforts towards validation, for example in the realms of SEO, ignoring or failing to implement valid code is surely asking for trouble.
Also, with the continuous development of mobile technology, browsing from your phone is becoming more and more affordable, popular and convenient. If this is the way ever more people are going to view the web, standards compliance is more important than ever as manufacturers produce their own mobile web browsers.
Should we shun IE6 completely when building our own, new OTB website?
Yes. 100%. Without a doubt. Well, in my opinion at least. Debate raged in the studio as our new site neared completion.
The arguments for IE6 Compliance from the OTB team:
- "We want our designs to be viewed by as many people as possible - even if IE6 comprises only 20% of the site's visitors' browsers, we want everyone to have the same visual experience."
- "One of our biggest clients only runs IE6 - they have to be able to view our site perfectly."
- "Most normal people don't know or care about validation, just how a site looks to them."
The arguments against:
- "By catering for the 20% who use IE6, we will have to compromise on the experience for 80% of our site's visitors."
- "The site comprises quite a few Flash elements. Those users who have not upgraded from IE6 will likely not have upgraded to the latest Flash version either, and so will already have a substandard experience".
- "The target audience of the site (potential and target clients) will know about validation, and will use our site as an example of our standards and practices."
What's the answer?
As far as OTB goes, I firmly believe that we should drop IE6 and the trouble it causes. Admittedly I would say that, being on the development team who has to put the extra work in. I understand the need for a very small minority of sites to be perfectly viewable in IE6, but certainly not all of them. If more companies took the stand to stop developing for IE6, web designers and developers would be freer to produce the best experiences for their users.
As for our website - I really hope we don't break and incorporate IE6 fixes. Validation is a mark (a small one, but a mark nonetheless) of competence, and I'd hate to see that integrity go.
