Musings (random thoughts on nothing in particular)
The problem with IE (before v.7) and not using web standards
[12.31.2007]As web standards have evolved and developers have actually started to implement those standards more stringently, the user experience will conform more as far as cross browser compatibility is concerned. Since I want to be an optimist, and testing on IE 7 has given me hope to be, I think the future is quite bright in this regard. There is one problem though. Not everyone uses the latest and greatest browser. There are several reasons why. Some do not know about any sort of update and nor do they care. This is a fair reason. If they perceive it ain't broke then why should they fix it. That example has more to do with the home/consumer market, and less to do with business.
Business users have certain web-apps that require certain technologies. Not all of these technologies are cross browser/cross platform compatible. A business that have certain apps that are built around these technologies cannot just upgrade on a whim. They must test all aspects of the app with the new browser on multiple platforms and apply fixes if necessary. This is time-consuming and costly so I would not begrudge a medium sized company too much for putting that on the back burner. Of course, their short-sightedness caused them to have to put such a project on the back burner in the first place. Had many companies used standard compliant technologies to build their websites and apps in the first place, many of the problems we face today would be moot.
While using proprietary technologies sped up development for many websites back in the day, continued use of these technologies is simply absurd. The point of business is to maximize your potential client base. Although using Microsoft technology may give you access to 80+% of web users, shutting off 20% still doesn't make any sense from a business point of view. A website can also be maintained a lot easier with proper structure and standards compliance. Why should companies be wading through a bunch of incoherent tables and spacer images just to find the area that needs to be changed. Efficiency is one of the keys to successful businesses. What business wants to spend more time than they need to on web design? Using proper structure and compliant code gives businesses another reason for a smart decision. Less bandwidth. Proprietary code usually adds all kinds of crap to a page that simply isn't necessary. Every kilobyte of information that needs to be read by a browser is a cost to a business. On a per user standpoint, the amount may be relatively small, but if you multiply that somewhat small number by a large number of users, then you have a real problem on your hands.
Even if maximizing potential clients is not your thing, then future-proofing your content should be. By keeping content and how to style that content separate, future generations can decipher between the two with relative ease. In 50 years the Internet will be much different (quite obvious), but content will always stay the same. How we style and to what devices we deliver that content will have changed but as long as we keep the two entities separate, our content will transition very easily.
So, back to my point of the problem with IE (before v.7). Right now, web designers/developers need to apply fixes to their web compliant website so that they may render properly in Internet Explorer 5.5 and 6. I think many developers have given up on compliance before IE 5 and Netscape Navigator 4. Of course a properly structured HTML document will degrade well when it comes to older browsers. After I've just spent four paragraphs explaining the benefits of standards compliance and how much less time a developer needs to spend on structure with a compliant site, I then tell you that you need to add fixes and "hacks" to make your perfectly compliant site to work properly in these versions of Internet Explorer. This should certainly not be a deterrent and force us to go back to the "old ways". Just like Netscape Navigator and the older versions of IE have faded in popularity (due to the machines they run on being somewhat obsolete to a majority of people), so to will IE 5.5 and 6.
As web designers, we must put up with these little fixes and hacks until our webtopia becomes reality. Fight the good fight. Semper Fi.