[Web4lib] Getting Rid of IE 6

Fri Apr 10 17:29:35 EDT 2009

I use the 5% rule - if it drops below 5%, we don't support it.

David Lee King
davidleeking.com - blog
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On Fri, Apr 10, 2009 at 4:21 PM, Tim Spalding <tim at librarything.com> wrote:

> Your sentiment is good, I think, but clearly there's a limit.
> Supporting Netscape 2 would be so costly and useful to so few that no
> web developer—government or not—would do it. In the business world,
> it's a pretty clear-cut benefit/gain decision. What do you think the
> rule should be for libraries?
>
> Tim
>
> On Fri, Apr 10, 2009 at 5:13 PM, L Cohn <lcohn at bplnj.org> wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> > I'm sorry, perhaps I'm missing something here, but aren't we supposed to
> be making our websites accessible to people using a variety of browsers so
> that they can access our catalogs and find information on our sites?  This
> discussion sounds like we're turning up our noses at our own clientele.
>  Some people are so technophobic that we're lucky they're looking in the
> catalog at all, much less stopping what they're doing to download what we
> consider to be proper for them.  Make your website accessible to them, don't
> throw roadblocks in their way by throwing messages up on the screens.  If
> you work with the general public long enough, you notice that they aren't
> even reading the messages that pop up in front of them.  The ones who know
> computers, just click OK and ignore the message.  The ones who are
> technophobic see the word install and run screaming from the computer,
> afraid they broke something.
> >
> > You're just scaring them off the world wide web. Stop throwing roadblocks
> at them.  It's your job to make your website accessible, not theirs.
> >
> > Lisa
> >
> > ------------------------------------
> >>Lisa Cohn, ILL, WebMaster,  Reference
> >>Bloomfield Public Library,  bplnj.org
> >>90 Broad Street, Bloomfield, NJ 07003
> >>  973-566-6200x217, lcohn at bplnj.org
> >>------------------------------------
> >>
> >>
> >>---------- Original Message ----------------------------------
> >>From: David Kane <dkane at wit.ie>
> >>Date:  Fri, 10 Apr 2009 21:02:46 +0100
> >>
> >>>Hi David,
> >>>
> >>>Run a Javascript browser detection script that advises them to update.
> >>>If this update is a problem for them, - then they need more help that
> you
> >>>could ever give..
> >>>
> >>>Regards,
> >>>
> >>>David Kane
> >>>Waterford Institute of Technology
> >>>Ireland.
> >>>
> >>>2009/4/10 Cloutman, David <DCloutman at co.marin.ca.us>
> >>>
> >>>> Hi Everyone,
> >>>>
> >>>> My library is looking to launch our new Web site last month (hurray).
> >>>> Early in the development process, about 6 months ago, I had to make a
> >>>> decision about what browsers the new site would support in terms of
> HTML
> >>>> / CSS. My goal was at least 95% support of what was being used. At
> that
> >>>> time, I looked at the numbers, and decided that IE6 would be going
> away,
> >>>> and that over the life of the site, it wouldn't be an issue. (I figure
> a
> >>>> typical site keeps a template for about 3 years.) The problem is that
> >>>> the IE 6 market share has only gone down marginally since I made that
> >>>> decision, and I'm looking at about 90% - 93% browser support at launch
> >>>> time. It's not the end of the world, but in order to mitigate the
> issue,
> >>>> I have posted a browser detecting JavaScript routine that looks for
> >>>> versions if IE <=6, and then displays a message telling them to
> upgrade.
> >>>> The technology works great. I'm tracking all the IE 6 hits through
> >>>> images that load in the message. I'm also tracking click-throughs to
> the
> >>>> IE Upgrade page and the Firefox page. (I wanted to give people
> options.)
> >>>> The problem is that after a week I'm still getting a lot of hits, but
> >>>> diminishing numbers of click-throughs. Part of the problem may be that
> >>>> the IE upgrade page on the Microsoft's site doesn't load flawlessly in
> >>>> IE 6. (Oops.) The other problem may be that people saw the warning
> >>>> regarding the pending non-support of their browser, and my rather
> >>>> technical disclaimer urging them to upgrade, and are now ignoring it.
> >>>>
> >>>> So here's my question for the list. How do I communicate to users, who
> >>>> for all I know may not even know the meaning of the word "upgrade",
> that
> >>>> they need to visit the Microsoft site, work through the issues, and
> >>>> install a new piece of software? Also, and this is more fun issue, for
> >>>> the ones that are really just lazy or obstinate, how do I grab their
> >>>> attention. I am not above using Lolcats or dancing hamsters. Creative
> >>>> suggestions are welcome.
> >>>>
> >>>> Happy Friday,
> >>>>
> >>>> - David
> >>>>
> >>>> ---
> >>>> David Cloutman <dcloutman at co.marin.ca.us>
> >>>> Electronic Services Librarian
> >>>> Marin County Free Library
> >>>>
> >>>> Email Disclaimer:
> http://www.co.marin.ca.us/nav/misc/EmailDisclaimer.cfm
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> _______________________________________________
> >>>> Web4lib mailing list
> >>>> Web4lib at webjunction.org
> >>>> http://lists.webjunction.org/web4lib/
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>_______________________________________________
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> >>>
> >>>
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
> >
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>
>
> --
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>
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