I wanted to follow up on my recent post highlighting the Save the Developers campaign, which is focusing it’s efforts on getting everyone to upgrade their outdated web browsers - specifically Internet Explorer 6.

Internet Explorer 6 Woes

I’ve been making several design updates to this blog, which is still in the Soft Launch phase while I tweak a few design elements, etc.

I have access to an older computer with IE6 for testing purposes - of course, even though this blog utilizes valid XHTML / CSS, it looks terrible on IE6!

On a personal note, this post marks the launch of version 1.2 of this WordPress theme. I’ve still got several tweaks in the works. Next stop? v 1.3

Finally - Transparent PNG’s!

As far as the IE6 issues with this blog… well, there are too many to count! But one major issue that has been holding me back is IE6’s inability to use transparent PNG’s without an IE6 hack, or creating two separate stylesheets (one for IE6 and one for everyone else).

So far I’ve just avoided the issue and not used transparent PNG’s, so as to not have to deal with the excess hassle in trying to make it work for IE6. I’ve been using GIF’s if I need a transparent image, or done work-arounds with JPG’s instead.

Business…

Of course, I want my main business web site to be as accessible as possible, regardless of the end user’s web browser. So that site has been setup to accommodate IE6 users with fully validated code.

All sites that I create for my own clients are fully accessible with the latest browser versions and IE6.

There’s no way around that! Business is business, and it’s important to get your message across to as wide an audience as possible.

… vs. Pleasure

But, with this being my personal blog, I have made the decision to send a different message to my audience, by taking the stand for web standards!

I will be fully promoting the Save the Developers cause by NOT worrying myself over compatibility and display issues with IE6.

I have installed the script provided by savethedevelopers.org. IE6 users will see a little graphic at the top of their screen, urging them to upgrade. Hopefully at least one or two people do take the opportunity to upgrade their browser!

This will save hours, if not days in trying to make a fix for an out-dated browser that does not comply to the current web standards. Not to mention, I can finally fully utilize the transparent PNG’s that I’ve been wanting to use for the longest time now.

Together we can make a difference!

If you are a web designer, I hope you’ll join me in promoting this cause!

Please feel free to post a comment below with your web site or blog link if you are promoting the Save the Developers campaign by urging all IE6 users to upgrade their browser and installing the Save the Developers script on your web site or blog.

Maybe this time next year, we can get that number of 30% IE6 users down to 10% or less!

Thanks to @womanchild on Twitter for posting this link. I love the concept!

Save The Developers is promoting a campaign for everyone to…

Say NO to IE6!

Our current campaign focuses on assisting users in upgrading their Internet Explorer 6 web browser. This campaign will result in former IE 6 users having a more enjoyable experience on the web while (hopefully) creating a less stressful and complicated environment for web developers by hastening the retirement of an outdated browser.

A Massive Time-Suck

My goodness, the countless hours that could be saved if IE6 wasn’t still such a popular web browser. It just does not comply to all of the current web standards, making life difficult for web developers all over the world.

What looks good in just about all of the other web browsers - IE7 included - often degrades terribly on IE6. Which is a major time-suck for web designers / developers everywhere.

As web developers, we have to appeal to the masses and spend the time trying to make it work across the board. We either have to loose features or have to come up with crazy hacks, etc. All because so many people are still using IE6, so therefore we still have to cater to it.

Current Statistics

According to W3Schools - February 2008 statistics show that:

• 30% of online users are still using IE6
• 22% are using IE7
• 36% are using Firefox
• everything else is 2% or less

I’m glad to see the Firefox numbers rising, but am really disappointed that IE6 is still so popular. I would have thought the percentage of IE7 users would have at least been equal to the percentage of IE6 users.

Clearly there really is need for the Save The Developers campaign.

Please Upgrade!

So, if you are still using Internet Explorer 6 - or know anyone that does…

Please upgrade your browser! You can upgrade to Internet Explorer 7, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari or Opera. Anything BUT Internet Explorer 6, LOL.

IE8 is in the works, btw… the beta is already out, though I have not tried it yet.

Just for the Record…

Firefox is my browser of choice, although I’ve recently discovered Flock - also by Mozilla - which will likely soon be my new favorite.

Flock - known as “The Social Web Browser” - has all of the same standards support as Firefox. However it incorporates many tools that help integrate the browser with several of the more popular social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Del.icio.us, etc. New post on this coming up soon, btw.

Anyway, go check out savethedevelopers.org… If your a web designer / developer, please promote it! If you’re a web user and still using IE6…

Please upgrade! Thank you!

Follow-Up Post: Taking a Personal Stand

I wrote the post below a couple weeks after publishing this one. I hope you’ll join me - at least on your personal sites (I understand we have to deal with IE6 at least for client sites…)

•  Save the Developers! Taking a Personal Stand!