[Web4lib] Getting Rid of IE 6

Fri Apr 10 17:30:46 EDT 2009

Are 6% of your users blind?

T

On Fri, Apr 10, 2009 at 5:29 PM, David King <davidleeking at gmail.com> wrote:
> I use the 5% rule - if it drops below 5%, we don't support it.
>
> David Lee King
> davidleeking.com - blog
> davidleeking.com/etc - videoblog
> twitter | skype: davidleeking
>
>
> 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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>> >
>> >
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Check out my library at http://www.librarything.com/profile/timspalding
>>
>>
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