Elliot Jay Stocks' talk at Skillswap Bristol

1. We need to talk about IE6
Support and non-support in a Standards-aware world
by Elliot Jay Stocks
elliotjaystocks.com/skillswap

2. What Is a Reward?

3. What Is a Reward?
A visual treat for the more capable browser

4. What Is a Reward?
A visual treat for the more capable browser, e.g:
Drop shadows on text (CSS3 spec, Safari / Opera 9.5)
Full PNG alpha transparency (no IE6 without hack)
si8.shauninman.com

5. What Is a Reward?
A visual treat for the more capable browser, e.g:
Drop shadows on text (CSS3 spec, Safari / Opera 9.5)
Full PNG alpha transparency (no IE6 without hack)

6. What Is a Punishment?

7. What Is a Punishment?
A decision to REMOVE visual treats

8. What Is a Punishment?
A decision to REMOVE visual treats
• The designer giveth... and the designer taketh away!
Just because a browser supports a feature doesn’t mean
you have to offer it

9. What Is a Punishment?
A decision to REMOVE visual treats
• The designer giveth... and the designer taketh away!
Just because a browser supports a feature doesn’t mean
you have to offer it
• Don’t be forced into hacking
Feature support can require complex hacks and it’s often
not necessary

10. What Is a Punishment?
A decision to REMOVE visual treats
• The designer giveth... and the designer taketh away!
Just because a browser supports a feature doesn’t mean
you have to offer it
• Don’t be forced into hacking
Feature support can require complex hacks and it’s often
not necessary
• Don’t compromise the neatness of your code
Avoid littering markup with unnecessary classes and IDs

11. Reward & Punishment
In Practice: elliotjaystocks.com

12. Reward & Punishment
In Practice: elliotjaystocks.com
To reduce the need for unnecessary class names, more
advanced CSS selectors were used.

13. Reward & Punishment
In Practice: elliotjaystocks.com
To reduce the need for unnecessary class names, more
advanced CSS selectors were used.
These selectors are not supported by IE6 and as a
result it lacks some of the visual treats...

14. Attribute Selectors
ul.blogroll li a[href=quot;http://hicksdesign.co.ukquot;]
{ background:url(../images/hicksFavicon.ico) }

15. Attribute Selectors
ul.blogroll li a[href=quot;http://hicksdesign.co.ukquot;]
{ background:url(../images/hicksFavicon.ico) }
Safari IE6

16. Adjacent Sibling Selectors
ol.portfolioList li h2+a:hover { border:none }

17. Adjacent Sibling Selectors
ol.portfolioList li h2+a:hover { border:none }
Safari IE6

18. Reward & Punishment
In Practice: stuffandnonsense.co.uk
Safari IE6

19. But Why Reward or Punish?

20. But Why Reward or Punish?
• Encourage users to adopt modern browsers

21. But Why Reward or Punish?
• Encourage users to adopt modern browsers
• Encourage browser vendors to create modern browsers

22. But Why Reward or Punish?
• Encourage users to adopt modern browsers
• Encourage browser vendors to create modern browsers
• Push technology and ideologies forward

23. A Word of Warning

24. A Word of Warning
• Not suitable in some commercial environments

25. A Word of Warning
• Not suitable in some commercial environments
• Pay attention to client requirements

26. A Word of Warning
• Not suitable in some commercial environments
• Pay attention to client requirements
• Adapt to suit your target audience

27. When In Doubt...

28. When In Doubt...
... use a badge!

29. Accessibility:
Catering For Users Without
Resorting To Punishment

30. Accessibility:
Catering For Users Without
Resorting To Punishment
In some circumstances, a browser’s lack of support
for certain features can ruin the user experience.

31. Accessibility:
Catering For Users Without
Resorting To Punishment
In some circumstances, a browser’s lack of support
for certain features can ruin the user experience.
In this instance, alternative display systems should
be considered.

32. Problem: JS Tab Navigation
The absolute positioning used to display the different
information boxes on rollover is rendered useless if the
user has Javascript disabled.

33. Solution: Specific Styles For
Javascript-Disabled Users

34. Solution: Specific Styles For
Javascript-Disabled Users
1. Use Javascript to write the class of hasJavascript to
the <body> tag. No Javascript? No hasJavascript class!

35. Solution: Specific Styles For
Javascript-Disabled Users
1. Use Javascript to write the class of hasJavascript to
the <body> tag. No Javascript? No hasJavascript class!
2. Use CSS to style descendants of hasJavascript
differently; e.g:
body div { background:#000 }
body.hasJavascript div { background:#fff }

36. Solution: Specific Styles For
Javascript-Disabled Users
Users without Javascript see a completely different
navigation system. Hurrah!

37. Conclusion

38. Conclusion
• Decide whether to reward or punish:
- What are the browser’s capabilities?
- Who is the target user / browser?

39. Conclusion
• Decide whether to reward or punish:
- What are the browser’s capabilities?
- Who is the target user / browser?
• Be gentle:
- Proceed with caution
- Consider displaying a warning ‘badge’

40. Conclusion
• Decide whether to reward or punish:
- What are the browser’s capabilities?
- Who is the target user / browser?
• Be gentle:
- Proceed with caution
- Consider displaying a warning ‘badge’
• Stay accessible:
- Usability is more important than punishment
- If necessary, offer alternative styling for different browsers

41. Thank You
elliotjaystocks.com/geeknight