I’ve started adding (expensive) optional IE6 support to my contracts too – the headaches it causes undoes all the fun of web design/development. No more, it’s time for it to die.

IE6 causes us all problems – currently around 16% of my visitors use it ( and most importantly, it’s pre SP2 incarnation, which is awful ). However Flash isn’t the answer (weird use of the term accessibility there – compatibility maybe?). Some of my visitors are blind, using screenreaders with unbelievably dodgy JS support – if you think IE6 is tough…….

Surely you don’t mean that you’ll say to clients “We design for these browsers, and IE6 is extra – we cannot provide any innovative features if IE6 is in your browser portfolio”? Don’t you go through a target browser analysis as part of the IA? You, as consultants, should then advise on the likely cost of IE6 bughunting compared to the expected revenue from these users.

In terms of Innovation, that’s what progressive enhancement is for. Design in standards, load a base experience that IE6 can understand, then add further layers of functionality for each browser that can handle it.

IE6 is a constant irritant to me too, not just for CSS but its poor JavaScript interpreter. One of my sites (http://www.captioncompetition.co.uk/) has design elements which are broken in IE6 but I am not going to fix them. I want to focus on improving usability of the site for the 85% of people who are using modern browsers. If I cater for IE6, not only does is delay me implementing new features, but it also slows the development of those features.

I’m done with IE6 and feel so much better for it.

Put me in the blue corner, with a big Firefox leotard & Safari fitted cap on (cause im sexy like that. I work in the music industry in many sectors and web-design etc is something i have self taught. I don’t cater for IE6 and reluctant for any IE for that matter. In my industry its like someone asking me to DJ a mix and say ‘oh yeah it has to be on a TDK 90 min tape as well.’ I’m sure this could be done, but due to the outdated technology it will of course cost you extra, because i then have to go out my way and do allot of extra work. Same goes for web-design and i don’t see how anyone can argue otherwise.

If it were down to purely my beleifs and how I would LIKE to develop, IE would be the new hate target of the media, be under invistigation for tax fraud, have regular death threats and all around be the target of every hitman on the planet.
However when such a large percentage of the market place still use it, whether they choose to or not (I know of quite a few who want to upgrade but their company/governmental IT departments won’t let them) it has to be taken into consideration.

Two points come to my mind in the IE war.
The first is that in order for IE to die you dont want individual web companies to make the bold stand, it needs to be the Googles and the Facebooks (Facebook actually does ask IE6 users to upgrade), when the sites that Everyone uses repeatedly tell them to upgrade it will have more effect than every design and development studio on the globe crying out for it.
Secondly the approach I take when building sites is to have it so the site is layered, at it’s core you have a fully working site which works perfectly in IE6, then you add layer by layer enhancement to the working site for browsers that will support them. The key is to ensure you dont put anything in thats essential but will not work for IE6.