The Decision To Drop IE6 Support By Default

What is Browser Support?

When you design and build a website, the look of the site is all determined by HTML and CSS code (the languages that websites are written with). The problem is, not all web browsers (and not all versions of the same browser) recognize this code in the same way. Some browsers (such as Firefox, Opera, and Safari) are committed to "Web Standards", which is an agreement of sorts to read HTML and CSS in the same way. Agreeing on some standards like this make alot of sense because it means when a web page is built, all browsers recognize it and display it in similar ways.

The IE Problem

The biggest problem here, however, is that the most widely used browser in the world, Internet Explorer (IE), has dragged it's feet on being a "Standards Compliant" browser...they just render web pages according to their own rules. The good thing is that, over time, Internet Explorer has become MUCH more standards compliant. In the old days, web designers would have to spend many extra hours writing custom code just so the sites wouldn't break in IE, which costs time and money. Virtually no web design companies support IE version 5.5 because virtually no one uses it anymore and it's technologies are entirely out of date. IE6, on the other hand, is still a widely used browser even though it's a long way behind the current state of web design in the technologies it uses. IE7 and IE8 are finally, what we consider, "modern browsers". They recognize many web standards and (mostly) render standards-compliant web pages correctly. The leap from IE6 to IE7 was a big one that meant web designers rarely had to write special code, just for IE, any longer.

The Current Landscape

So, the current state of browsers looks a little like this: Of the top 10 used browsers, 8 of them are, in most ways, "standards compliant", 1 of them is fairly close (IE7) and one still needs to be treated with special (ie. extra) code to make it work right (IE6). That means that almost all code we write will work properly in every browser except IE6, and that extra work has to be done to be IE6 compliant. Up until this point, we've accepted that extra work as the price of doing business, we've never charged extra in hidden costs to support IE6. At times it's cost has been high, but it's been a necessary evil. Now, however, IE6 is officially 2 versions old, since IE7 and IE8 are now in mainstream usage. So, we've had to ask the question: How long do we need to keep writing extra, custom code to support a IE6, a browser that's 2 versions (and many years) out of date?

Taking a Step Forward

This question has been answered by most web design companies as "we'll support it as long as users keep using it". They claim it's a 'default browser' that is supported for no additional cost, as long as there's still a large market share. However, that's not really the reality. Most companies "hide" the cost of developing for IE6 into the budget that they quote for your project, charging you for the time it takes to write that extra code without telling you. At Mustardseed, we refuse to hide costs like this, we want you to know exactly what you're paying for and give you the option of saving money if you feel like it's not worth your budget dollars. That's why, as of now, we no longer support Internet Explorer 6 as a default browser. Before I go further, let me assure you that we WILL support IE6 for any site that requests it (and, as a matter of fact, for a while, it will be a 'recommended feature' for all sites we build), however it will be a feature that costs extra. You'll SEE what you're paying for it so you can weigh your options. At Mustardseed, we're taking this step of faith to stay on the cutting edge of web development and we recognize it's a risk we're taking. Many will argue that this is foolish with so many people still using IE6 daily. We, however, see it as a calculated risk. In reality, nothing really changes in how we work...we support the latest 2 versions of a browser (IE7, IE8) and if more versions are required, there's some extra cost and work for us to do that. So, while it's additional cost, we feel it's the TRUE cost of what the client receives. Hopefully they'll see it the same way :)

Moving into the future

Let's not forget that moving forward in technology means that we can build more robust websites that can serve your church or ministry better, allowing you to use the most modern communication methods and web technologies available. We could choose to stay stuck in the past, but despite the risk of moving too quickly, we refuse to do that. Instead, we're looking forward with the websites we build. We hope you'll move forward with us!