Outdated Browser

[Kyle Undefined]

I had received an email from one of our clients today, a field that is required on the online form was left blank when they received the email from the site. I knew it had to been an issue with the validation, since I didn't add any server side validation. (I know I know, bad. This was built several months ago before I was really into site perfection, I just did the task at hand and didn't improve it, man those were the bad days). So I dug into the issue, found out that IE6 was the culprit, which wasn't a big surprise. So I added some server side validation and all was well, and this is where I'm at a cross road...

 

(For months now I've been trying to get my boss into the "newer" technologies of the web, but he's stubborn like me in his ways. Don't get me wrong, we're not using outdated stuff, I just want to be on the front line. I've finally was able to get him to the point of considering jQuery last month. This month, we've deployed two jQuery functions into our site which gives great SEO and user functionality. I've also been talking to him about dropping IE6 support since it's a pain in the arse, and he's on board with that one.)

 

So anyway, back to the point, sorry for rambling. I have script that detects the browser and version, and if it detects IE6 then it displays an unobtrusive popup with links to other browsers and IE8. My boss and I were discussing what to do with the site if a user is using IE6, do we allow them to use the site and when that popup comes up warn them that their experience on the site won't be as great? Or disallow access until they upgrade? What is the best solution? I'm leaning toward letting them to continue use the site but warn them that they're using an outdated browser. Especially since some people are wary of upgrading/new browsers or like how they have their current one setup. It wouldn't be fair to them if we blocked total access, but a nice warning should be alright.

 

I know I'm no professional in my industry, but I try to do things that the pro's do. I want to get the community thoughts on the issue before going to my boss and discuss what we should do.

 

Anything is appreciated!

 

Thanks!

[LSW]

Well you certainly don't want to just lock them out.

 

You could use a forward, pop up a "By the way you are using a 2 generation old browser and it would be best to upgrade" message. Then send them to a very basic site that will give them the info but no thrills.

 

Also check YOUR statistics, a gaming site would have up-to-date users, a business dealing with the elderly is more likely to have legacy browsers primarily, so it depends on your user demographics. However W3schools shows IE at 30.7 percent, IE 6 at only 6 percent

[Webkiller]

I had received an email from one of our clients today, a field that is required on the online form was left blank when they received the email from the site. I knew it had to been an issue with the validation, since I didn't add any server side validation. (I know I know, bad. This was built several months ago before I was really into site perfection, I just did the task at hand and didn't improve it, man those were the bad days). So I dug into the issue, found out that IE6 was the culprit, which wasn't a big surprise. So I added some server side validation and all was well, and this is where I'm at a cross road...

 

(For months now I've been trying to get my boss into the "newer" technologies of the web, but he's stubborn like me in his ways. Don't get me wrong, we're not using outdated stuff, I just want to be on the front line. I've finally was able to get him to the point of considering jQuery last month. This month, we've deployed two jQuery functions into our site which gives great SEO and user functionality. I've also been talking to him about dropping IE6 support since it's a pain in the arse, and he's on board with that one.)

 

So anyway, back to the point, sorry for rambling. I have script that detects the browser and version, and if it detects IE6 then it displays an unobtrusive popup with links to other browsers and IE8. My boss and I were discussing what to do with the site if a user is using IE6, do we allow them to use the site and when that popup comes up warn them that their experience on the site won't be as great? Or disallow access until they upgrade? What is the best solution? I'm leaning toward letting them to continue use the site but warn them that they're using an outdated browser. Especially since some people are wary of upgrading/new browsers or like how they have their current one setup. It wouldn't be fair to them if we blocked total access, but a nice warning should be alright.

 

I know I'm no professional in my industry, but I try to do things that the pro's do. I want to get the community thoughts on the issue before going to my boss and discuss what we should do.

 

Anything is appreciated!

 

Thanks!

 

I would warn them that their experience might not be great and upgrading to current IE is best for viewing sites around the web.

[Kyle Undefined]

@Kyle (Ha, sounds like I'm talking to myself), thanks for the feedback, with this particular clients site it's hard to tell what type of audience will be using it. It can very from the young to the old, so the warning message does make the most sense. Thanks for the stats, I look those up when I first found out the problem earlier today.

 

@Webkiller, Thanks, I think that's what I'm going to do.