[Web4lib] Getting Rid of IE 6
jimm wetherbee
jimm at wingate.edu
Fri Apr 10 18:05:03 EDT 2009
David King wrote:
> I use the 5% rule - if it drops below 5%, we don't support it.
>
Never mind IE6. It is getting close to the point where we will have to
support web enabled cell phones.
--jimm
> 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
>>
>>>>>>
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>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
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>>>>
>>>
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>>
>> --
>> Check out my library at http://www.librarything.com/profile/timspalding
>>
>>
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--
Jimm Wetherbee | jimm at wingate.edu
Information Systems Librarian | Voice: 704-233-8092
E.K. Smith Library | Fax: 704-233-8254
Wingate University | http://library.wingate.edu/staff/jmw/
Wingate, NC 28174 | lux et fides
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