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A clever way to fight IE6

igorpartola.com

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Re: A clever way to fight IE6

#11

Post by swombat »

WillyF wrote: post #10
tmlee wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

but the underlying problem is that IE6s are still sticking in big enterprise/workplace where they do not have a choice of uninstalling it.

And big enterprises are places with deep pockets. They'd happily pay the IE6 tax. I'm not really serious about the idea, but the idea of taxing users of outdated software could lead to some pretty interesting applications.

The enterprises wouldn't decide to pay the IE tax. The decision would have to be made by the end-users forced to use IE6. And they wouldn't pay.

Re: A clever way to fight IE6

#12

Post by danmelnick »

This is the way I've approached the issue for sometime, and the analogy I always use with clients to explain the additional cost is one of translation. Most browsers speak english, or some basic dialect of english. I can deal with those dialects. IE6 speaks Chinese. It costs more money to translate the site into Chinese. People seem to understand that analogy.

Re: A clever way to fight IE6

#13

Post by IgorPartola »

dinedal wrote: post #3

I went into this expecting the latest "show a message to the user urging them to update" technique, but I was pleasantly surprised. I wonder if it goes into the territory of browser support a la cart ordering though.

I don't think so. As a consultant you can always structure your products in a way where the core browsers are always included, but the weird ones are extra. Naturally, the always-included ones will be the more standards compliant ones since chances are that if it works in, say, Safari it will also mostly work in Chrome.

Re: A clever way to fight IE6

#14

Post by billybob »

fady wrote: post #6

Or you could just give them a 101 on web standards, while giving the main points why you wont support IE6. It almost depends on your clients. ie: Since most MLS programs are still in the dinosaur age, most Realtors use Windows, and good % of them still use IE6(I've seen the analytics), crazy eh? I just wont support it. Update your OS/Browser!

While we all sympathize with your stance, the author's is more reasonable.

For the client, it's really quite simple: it takes some extra hours of work to support IE6, which costs X dollars in labor. For a given site, not having IE6 support will drive away Y dollars in user revenue. If supporting it makes them more money, they should want to. If it loses money, they shouldn't.

Making this trade-off explicit with a client is good. And I think it's also reasonable to charge a premium on those hours of IE6 support, since they are extra-frustrating.

HOW frustrating it is for you will affect the premium you charge. And for you the tradeoff is more like this: am I willing to lose business with clients because they think I'm unreasonable in my IE6 support fees? Are the dollars lost made up for by happiness at work?

As long as you're thinking it through, do what you want.

Re: A clever way to fight IE6

#16

Post by fady »

tofumatt wrote: post #9
fady wrote: post #6

Or you could just give them a 101 on web standards, while giving the main points why you wont support IE6. It almost depends on your clients. ie: Since most MLS programs are still in the dinosaur age, most Realtors use Windows, and good % of them still use IE6(I've seen the analytics), crazy eh? I just wont support it. Update your OS/Browser!

Governments and other big organizations REFUSE to update their browsers because they need IE 6 to support legacy software (I used to work in provincial government in Canada: I know). Spouting off about "web standards" (whatever that means to a client) is worthless -- they'll tell you it still looks wrong. Tell them IE6 costs extra and at least your trouble will be worth your while (or you can skip IE6 dev time). It's…

I agree with charging extra. It's a good tactic to see if they understand, as they certainly will understand spending more money, vs supporting web standards.

Re: A clever way to fight IE6

#18

Post by melvinram »

I run a web design company and as part of the discovery process, we ask questions to figure out whether or not big corporations, schools, gov. agencies, etc, are part of their core target audience. We also look at their existing analytics data if they have it. If they have visitors using IE6, we just assume that we're going to need to support IE6 and adjust the price according. There is no good reason to make the customer feel bad that they have to pay more because their clients are using a dipshit browser (most of them are probably being forced to do so.)

Now if I determine that their core audience won't be using IE6, I explain the issues pertaining to IE6, how it takes more time to make everything work as intended and give them the facts of browser/version distribution. If they want, we'll support IE6 for them (because we are here to help them make money and even though I hate IE6, I'm not religious about the hate) for the extra cost.

Re: A clever way to fight IE6

#19

Post by InclinedPlane »

This shouldn't classify as clever, it should be standard practice. Supporting IE6 is more difficult than other browsers, and the usefulness is highly dependent upon the specific site's demographics et al, so putting the decision to the site owner and making clear that IE6 support translates to either sacrifices in other parts of the project or increased total project cost is very much the correct course of action.

Re: A clever way to fight IE6

#20

Post by fady »

billybob wrote: post #14
fady wrote: post #6

Or you could just give them a 101 on web standards, while giving the main points why you wont support IE6. It almost depends on your clients. ie: Since most MLS programs are still in the dinosaur age, most Realtors use Windows, and good % of them still use IE6(I've seen the analytics), crazy eh? I just wont support it. Update your OS/Browser!

While we all sympathize with your stance, the author's is more reasonable. For the client, it's really quite simple: it takes some extra hours of work to support IE6, which costs X dollars in labor. For a given site, not having IE6 support will drive away Y dollars in user revenue. If supporting it makes them more money, they should want to. If it loses money, they shouldn't. Making this trade-off explicit with a cli…

good points billybob :) I cannot wait until IE6 is no longer in our minds/OS.
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