Let Dead Dogs LIE6
Extra code for IE6 is available upon request. As mentioned in the comments to a previous post there are certain markets wherein IE6 is still mandatory. Some institutions are perched atop decades-old intranets. IT departments restrict the cube dweller’s abilities to upgrade. I appreciate these facts and oblige as clients have need. I even appreciate certain sentiments:
Remember, when the masses look at your website and see a broken or blocked experience—they don’t say “oh look, IE6 is breaking the site again”, they simple [sic] say, “oh look, this website is broken”. In the eyes of the masses, websites break not browsers. No message you prompt to them will change this mentality; you will not make a geek out of a non-geek: for most, a browser is simply a tool for the Internet, one not being any different than another.
I find the statement of the user’s perception to be spot on. There are folks out there that think IE6 is the internet. There are folks out there that think AOL is a requirement (1,045 hours, FTW!!!). There are folks out there that think addresses are supposed to go into the Yahoo! search box.
I get it.
It’s just really really sad.
These are smart people, victims of their wisdom, holding fast to their trusty adage, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” My little website isn’t going to convince them that IE6 is the problem. Your site isn’t going to convince them it’s the problem. But, if we join Apple, The Washington Post, 37signals, et al., our sites might.
We’ll show them it’s broken. We’ll show them how to fix it. The world wide web will be a little happier for everyone. And no one needs become a geek unwillingly.
Who knows? We might even convince a few IT guys it’s time to let a flaming vulpes loose for the cubies.
Comments: 13
Spot On. I’m glad some sites and companies are finally deciding to ditch IE6. But as longs as 1 in 4 users are still using it……I don’t know.
I know my site is a huge exception, but of the nineteen thousand unique visitors I’ve had in the past month, ninety-five out of a hundred are using a better browser with only seventeen out of a hundred using IE of any flavor.
I understand a corporation’s decision to not upgrade a piece of software that requires money in order to perform the upgrade. I tend to offer less leeway when the product is free to upgrade. But there will always be that minority that need to be tailored to.
Better yet I wish the browser providers could decide on some standards even making a site work write in firefox and ie7 can be a pain.
my favorite solution is to have your web page show correctly in IE6, just with different contents than your “real web page”. it shouldn’t have broken links, or anything else that could confuse the user. it should instead convey simple instructions:
“this website does not support internet explorer version 6 (IE6). please upgrade to firefox, safari, or IE7 to continue.”
Ah the wasted hours on IE6.
I hear you, I’m just waiting for the day.
I totally hear you on this one, though I was quite suprised to find your web site is very “broken” in IE6.
My approach has been to design in the normal standards-compliant way, and use a conditional comment for IE6. I don’t spend long working around problems, I just stick a few rules in so it looks “good enough”. If a column wraps underneath another, then screw it. And I don’t bother with PNG transparency fixes anymore, IE6 users can put up with a grey background.
I also added a banner to my sites over a year ago, similar to the one you have here, encouraging people to upgrade. I hope more sites are doing this (obviously it’s hard to tell since I don’t use IE6 for any normal browsing).
Final note: it looks like your comment form doesn’t work in Opera! I keep getting a “required field” message on this text box.
Well said. Currently redesigning my website, and it feels good to know I can all but ignore IE6. Granted, I feel bold enough to do it because my audience knows better, and wouldn’t be so haphazard with a project I was hired for. But I would certainly offer the option.
Your website is one of the best pieces of design I have seen for a long time. Superb work, well done, I love it!
I’ve been fortunate enough to work in web design for four years before someone called me asking why their URL wasn’t going directly to their site. Before then, I had assumed everyone understood the distinction between an address bar and IE7 Live Search. Actually, ‘assumed’ isn’t fair; it had simply never occurred to me that someone could mess that up.
P.S., I know this is an ancient post, but it’s nice to know that there are others out there with clients who can’t use a browser correctly, let alone use a good one.
I wish your comments had dates… so that when people cite statistics about browsers and the like, I will know how recent they are. Great site btw!
Well bro, it’s coming up on a year. Time for that annual blog post.
Nice Article. Fixing CSS coding for IE6 wasted a lot of time. Better to ignore sometime. :)
Those IE6 times, arent over yet alas. On my most projects i do not give two cents how ie6 (or IE5 - had to use it at one of my clients just a week ago (2010may)) but some times… its just must… and i hate it…