Internet Explorer 6 support: is it needed?
As web developers and designers we all know too well of the problems we face when it comes to coding and testing for Internet Explorer 6 (IE6). With the release of Internet Explorer 8 over a year ago, there now seems to be 3 mind-sets when it comes IE6 support:
- Dropping support altogether, hoping the user will be encouraged to upgrade their out of date browser. This movement has only been re-affirmed by the likes of Youtube and Google dropping their support.
- Religiously supporting and catering for IE6 as there is too much of a market share of users to warrant dropping support.
- Looking at your website’s user base and logically thinking about whether or not (or if you are lucky enough to have tracking analytics to back it up) your website is likely to have users with IE6.
Personally the last option is my personal preference, and the perfect middle ground between the other two. Designers and developers are made happier knowing that they only have to support IE6 should the website’s user base require it.
If your client’s website is likely to be non-tech savvy parents, the chances of them having IE6 is relatively high. Therefore the requirement for support is there. On the other hand if you are designing a website which is most likely to be viewed by other designers or developers (much like Carsonified), the chances of them having a more up to date browser such as IE8 or Firefox is increasingly high, meaning support for IE6 doesn’t really need to be considered at all.
The State of Web Development 2010 report shows that 60% of us test for IE6 still, but I wonder how much of that is actually required by the target audience?
A common mistake when browser testing
As part of any website build process, the layout design and functionality will require cross browser testing. To what degree of testing is required and which browsers your website needs to support is subjective to the purpose and your target audience, but that is a discussion for another day.
There are many tools currently available which designers and developers have become reliant upon to view their design in multiple browsers quickly and with minimal effort. Web applications such as Adobe BrowserLab, Litmus and BrowserShots all offer services where you can view static images of your website in multiple browsers.
Whilst using these apps are convenient for not having to have multiple browsers installed on your development computer, I am a firm believer that these tools only touch the surface. A screenshot only provides a quick glance at your work and cannot highlight any other problems such as unclickable links, JavaScript errors etc.
In the long run, it always proves invaluable to start up your website in different browsers. You may be surprised at what can be found by just trying to use the website as any other user would.
Below is a screen shot of benmacgowan.co.uk in Internet Explorer 6 (code altered for this example). By just looking at the screen shot, you would assume that the design works fine for the user, but what isn’t shown is that the links in the footer are unclickable for the user, causing increased frustration and a loss of user experience.
