When do we drop Internet Explorer 6.0 support ?
by Brendan Howard 1 June 2009
Read posts from Brendan Howard
If you are reading this for an answer, I’ll begin my stating I don’t have one. This post is more of an open question, with a few stats from some of our sites.
How do we code?
Well, before I jump right in I wanted to address our coding practices. We code using standards, and ensure our sites pass HTML and CSS validation without any tricks or so-called “hacks”. Of course there are instances when it is more cost and time effective to use for example a JQuery plugin or a blog engine (WordPress) to power a portion of a site. In these scenarios altering code for HTML and CSS validation defeats the purpose for using the already developed code.
Back to the subject at hand! When talking to my team, or a client the topic of Browser Compatibility typically comes up, and every time I mention we support Internet Explorer 6.0 I get a funny look. Yes, I realize IE 6.0 was initially release in 2001, so yeah that’s old! I’m not a gluten for punishment and I only use I.E. 6.0 for web development, but I’m just not sure when to sever the cord.
In May of 2009, we saw up to of 20% of our web site users still browsing with Internet Explorer 6.0 and as few as 7%, remember these numbers come from many different sites. I believe 20% is a respectful number to support, but if we had statistics that showed 20% of our users browsed using WebTV, I don’t believe I would cater to these users without a few more reasons.
I’m not entirely sure why these users haven’t updated yet. IE 7.0 is far from perfect but it is light years beyond 6.0, in the realm of web development is concerned. I have a sneaking suspicion as to who these IE 6.0 users are, for example; I have a friend working for a design company in Grand Rapids, MI who is forced to use IE 6.0. The IT director refuses to allow their corporate computers to update. I’m sure there’s a policy and possibly some logical reasons behind this, although maybe not. Regardless, I know I want our sites to look and function correctly for these users too.
So my question to you; Ignertia blog readers, when do you stop supporting Internet Explorer 6.0 ?
June 2nd, 2009 at 9:37 am
I work as a web designer at LarsonOBrien (www.larsonobrien.com), an advertising agency focused on architectural building products in Pittsburgh. Recently we had the opportunity to build a site for the Pittsburgh Veterinary Specialty & Emergency Center (www.pvs-ec.com) and were baffled to find that 25% of the site’s viewers are using IE6.