should I cater for older browsers?

colak · 2021-04-12 05:01:32

I started a ground-up redesign of my wife’s site and I’m thinking of just using modern css3 standards (grid, flex, variables, calc, clamp etc). These of course are not supported by earlier browser versions. Should we still cater for them? Since GDPR, I have no idea of the browser statistics of our visitors so I can not make an educated decision. I understand that browser support is only about 4 years old with some standards such as calc and clamp only been supported since last year on some mobile devices.

Bloke · 2021-04-12 07:18:26

Short answer: no.

Long answer: don’t waste your time :)

(my 2cents)

phiw13 · 2021-04-12 08:09:53

flex, variables, calc are supported by quite a few browser versions actually, but OK. Even grid goes way back (not IE 11 though).

What do you call “older” browsers ? IE 11, older ? and in the smart phone / small screen field ?
~4 years old in the latter field is really old and probably non-functional. IE 11 is on the way out, except, maybe for accessibility reason (screen readers and Window High Contrast mode). Only now (2021) does Edge-using-chromium support HCMode decently (and Firefox is catching up fast).

Last edited by phiw13 (2021-04-12 08:15:22)

gaekwad · 2021-04-12 09:45:09

You could freestyle a bit and use data gathered generally from places like en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_web_browsers

philwareham · 2021-04-12 12:09:37

I dropped support for IE11 in the Textpattern websites about 3 months ago. Nobody has complained.

michaelkpate · 2021-04-12 14:04:05

I just tried to open IE on Windows 10 – it does everything it can to get me to use Edge instead.

At work, we are still mostly running Windows 7 – so we have IE (which no one uses) but most people use Firefox (an LTS version that tries to get you to upgrade it every time you open it – which I would love to do but it requires Admin permission. So I mostly use Chrome if it is available (and Firefox when it is not).

colak · 2021-04-12 14:09:02

Thanks guys, I’m actually thinking that with all the new goodies css3 offers I may be able to build the whose site without any js. This would actually make my life much easier but I was worried of limiting the audience. I’ll start building once I figure out why my macbook has the black screen of death, which happened after I posted my question above. It’s been a fun day, trying everything and hope I will not have to take it to the service centre!

colak · 2021-04-12 16:43:44

colak wrote #329791:

I’ll start building once I figure out why my macbook has the black screen of death, which happened after I posted my question above. It’s been a fun day, trying everything and hope I will not have to take it to the service centre!

Interestingly enough, it has the problem found here (YouTube link) but following the steps did not fix it. I’ll keep on trying.

gaekwad · 2022-06-13 20:50:31

death-to-ie11.com

phiw13 · 2022-06-14 06:28:04

gaekwad wrote #333585:

death-to-ie11.com

At time of writing, still 1 day, 1hour, 33min to go… Come we can do better!

Out of curiosity – and I always treat these with a oil-tanker-sized pinch of salt, and according to CanIUse.com – for Japan I see 1.6% usage and for China 9.2% (nobody believes that number) but Vietnam a meagre 0.18%.

I don’t think I have paid much attention to that browser when coding something new.

Pat64 · 2022-06-14 08:33:25

Maybe we don’t need to worry about old browsers anymore (all Internet Explorer), today. Since November 2021, Microsoft has forced IE11 users (still present in Win 10) regardless of the URL entered and with the proper download link to switch to Edge if someone wants to launch this old browser.

However, and surprisingly, I discovered yesterday that Microsoft Edge still offer… a feature to switch to… “the old [display type of (kind of)] Internet 11”…

Last edited by Pat64 (2022-06-14 08:43:23)

phiw13 · 2022-06-15 05:59:34

Adrian Roselli with a dose of reality: Internet Explorer Still Does Not Go Away Today

Not that browser is not completely gone. But there are severe measures to prevent users from using it as a default for the websites at large.

Pat64 wrote #333590:

However, and surprisingly, I discovered yesterday that Microsoft Edge still offer… a feature to switch to… “the old [display type of (kind of)] Internet 11”…

Yes, but probably more difficult to (actively) use over time.

–^–

Bottom line: unless you work on some corporate intranet websites, there is nothing to worry about, except maybe those 2 users with their Windows 8 devices.

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#1 2021-04-12 05:01:32