When Internet Explorer 6 came out in 2001, it was a huge step forward for the browsing world. Sadly, while the long-living browser still commands a strong contingent of users, it has outlived its welcome for at least 5 years. Nowadays, the nearly 8 year old browser still continues to be a thorn in side of web developers. When I redesigned my site this past January, I was unwilling to commit to the time it would take to make IE6 fully compatible with the design and unorthodox elements on the site. I had a choice of allowing visitors using IE6 to have a downgraded version of the site (which would take time in and of itself to implement) or to block them altogether. I chose the latter and I am writing why I think it is a reasonable decision.

Objects At Rest…

Many users on the internet have no problem browsing on IE6. Most sites work just the same on their outdated browsers as they do on its modern counterparts. This gives the general public no reason to move on. However, there is a reason why most sites still work on that browser — it is because web developers spend an extraordinarily unproportionate amount of their time making sure it does. As long as people’s favorite sites continue to work for them with their browser of choice, there is no reason for them to move on. This may be a foreign concept to many of us, but there are plenty of people that operate this way — explaining the 10%-20% of users (depending on the statistics you believe) that still use it. In a way, this noble pursuit from the standards movement to push for backwards compatibility has caused this this nasty side-effect.

Web developers feel like they must support IE6 because it still constitutes a large segment of the user population. IE6 still constitutes a large segment of the population because web developers still support IE6. It is a vicious cycle that really is not doing anyone in the equation any good. In my opinion, by not blocking IE6 or at least making it very clear that it is unsupported, it is essentially continuing the notion that IE6 is a relevant browser. A bit of education and an adequate nudge in the right direction would do both parties a lot of good. Instead of trying to make IE6 users have the least sub-par experience possible, why not help them actually have a good experience?

Time Well Spent?

The more complex sites become, the more code they need to contain in order to support legacy browsers. My question is if that is worthy of our attention. For some sites, it most certainly is. However, for others, it is taking valuable hours away from improving the experience of the site for the majority of users on modern browsers. Even the process of creating and testing downgraded versions of the site for older browsers takes significant time. It’s just another task to juggle and manage when adding new pages/features. Ultimately, it just does not seem to pan out to spend 30% of one’s time trying to put a square peg in a round hole for 10% of your audience. There are an increasing number of sites that have decided not to fully support IE6, but do not actively block it either. That is a reasonable decision, however I find some fault in it. No matter how good the messaging is, if users come to your site and it looks broken, it will reflect poorly on your site. Better to block it altogether and ensure all users that can view the site see it perfectly.

This is what you'll get on this site with IE6.

For my site in particular, I wanted to try out some new Flash/HTML interactions in addition to some relatively unique Javascript UI experiments. Whether it could run in IE6 seemed unimportant. Frankly, a large portion of the site is about those types of things — it’s my business. This site is not some strange exception of the rule, there are plenty of sites out there that are interested in offering unique experiences while still desiring to semantically correct and standards-friendly. Those sites should rather work on refining the experience on modern browsers while aiding in the migration to compatible browsers than keeping back the majority’s experience for legacy browsers. Sites that the public depends on for information, such as government sites, should by no means block anyone. However, sites that are attempting to push new UI paradigms and experiences should at least consider the idea. If a site is in the business of a next-gen experience, not only does browsers like IE6 not fit in the picture, viewing a such a site in such a browser could lessen the image/brand of the site.

A One-Time-Only Rule

There are some inherent problems with my train of thought. For one, this route makes information inaccessible to a segment of the population — which flies right in the face of what the internet should be all about. Secondly, not all people have control over their browsing experience. Lastly, this type of thinking can easily spin out of control by simply not supporting any browser that proves to pose compatibility issues. However, let me try to explain why I think IE6 is a unique case.

I would argue, however, that IE6 is different than other legacy browsers because it is lingering. It just refuses to go away unlike almost all of its predecessors. Secondly IE6 was basically the last major pre-standards browser and it had no significant updates that improved its standards support. Sure, IE7 has its issues, but it is nothing like its older brother. Basically, all browsers coming out at least have decent support for standards, with most doing a very good job of it. IE6 is the last browser still standing that falls outside of these parameters. The faster we can push it out the door and forget it ever happened, the better off we will all be. That being said, with the way browsers are designed, I do not foresee any reasonable justification to pull this trick back out once IE6 bites the dust.

Alternative Methods

Even though I see it as the most effective method, blocking IE6 is not the only way to go about solving this issue. Ultimately, I am aware that blocking any traffic to one’s site can be seen as wasteful. There are other ways to get the idea across while being less drastic. One way would be to block IE6 users once a week on a consistent day with a clear explanation of when and why. Another option is to simply disable as much CSS and Javascript as is possible without hampering core functionality. Such a move would most definitely get the attention of users while not keeping them from your content.

Ultimately, this idea is obviously not for everyone. However, it was a huge relief for me to know that I had the freedom to try some new ideas on this site without having to figure out a way to make it work in legacy browsers. At this point in time, the majority of users are using browsers that more or less get it right. I think it is about time to cater directly to that majority.