Coding Geekette

As I play with browsers, I've fallen for Internet Explorer 9.  It isn't as much of a hassle to develop for anymore, finally choosing standards that seem to be close to what the other browsers use.  They've finally got tabbed browsing with removable tabs that can be re-added back in, much like Google Chrome.  As Internet Explorer grows up, I'm thrilled with the features that are getting added.  It's slowly maturing into a real browser.

While I can browse the internet with Internet Explorer, it's still not something I can completely uninstall and reinstall.  It's still baked into the operating system.  

Until I can truly uninstall it and reinstall it and see it on the "Uninstall a program" page, it's just a great operating system feature in my book and not a full-fledged browser.

So please, Internet Explorer team, show the world how awesome your product can be without baking it in the operating system!

While trying to find out more information on this Ginger Peach tea that my hubby picked up from the grocery store, I ran into this awful message on the Stash Tea website:

At this time our website does not support the Chrome browser. We hope to be able to support the Chrome browser in the near future. Please use the Internet Explorer, Firefox or Safari web browsers for your shopping transaction, or call us 24/7 at 800-826-4218 to place your order.

We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for visiting Stash Tea.

Really?!?  Why - in the days of cross-browser platforms like jQuery - am I still seeing this?  Why do companies with such a wide audience base let their web developers get away with this?  Why is this acceptable?

Thankfully their site supports Internet Explorer, one of the harder browsers to develop for.  No error messages on IE 9 beta... which is much newer than Chrome!  Grrr...

And the feature that would tell me the information I'm looking for... works sorta in Firefox once I figured it out.  What in the world?!? Not only does it not work on a modern browser, but it doesn't work easily... you have to maybe hover for a significant amount of time to get the product information window to display, even though the Product Information text looks like it's a link.

It's maddening enough when a browser isn't supported, but when the data you need - such as product information - doesn't display properly, if at all... ugh!

Looks like I'll stick to my Twinings, Celestial Seasonings, and Lipton teas... no Stash Tea for me with that horrible user experience on their website. 

Many years ago, I remember seeing "Optimized for IE", "Best viewed in
Internet Explorer", and "IE Only" on websites. Nowadays, I'm not seeing
that as much, and I'm glad.

I never realized how much "IE Only" impacted me until I was helping a
friend with a project and found that the app worked fine in other browsers
for the most part, with probably just a little tinkering in the browsers
to get them to work. When I was told that the app was supposed to be "IE
Only", that caused me to get quite disgusted, and I hadn't actually
expected that kind of reaction out of myself.

Back in the day, certain things only worked in certain browsers.
Nowadays, though, browsers are getting a bit closer to implementing the
same "standards". With them getting this much closer, "IE Only" seems
more of a crutch to me, one that web developers should really get away
from.

What "IE Only" Means to Me

When I hear or see "IE Only", I see a few things:

• I'm an old school dev that knows the IE hacks and refuses to learn the
  new code that works on most browsers.


• I'm in a hurry (or maybe just lazy), and my website generation tools
  are optimized for IE.


• I don't have time to test other browsers.


• I don't care about the other browsers.


• I don't know where I can learn more about technologies that would work in more than just IE.

"IE Only" seems to be more of an excuse to get out of writing the code the
right away.

But why the IE hate?

As a web developer, it isn't my job to force my end user to lock into a
browser. That means that just because {insert browser name here} is my
favorite browser, I can't develop strictly for it and tell everyone else
that they have to use it. It's my responsibility to work with technology
that will get the information out to as much of my audience as possible.

It isn't that I hate IE - I use Internet Explorer as my primary browser on
at least one of my machines. It's that I'm tired of seeing developers
taking the easy way out. Although it might take a little time to learn
the code that works cross-browser, that time spent means that you'll be
able to disseminate your information to a broader audience.

In my friend's case, the "IE Only" claim translated into not fully
understanding how browsers handle the technology. Unfortunately, I had
run into similar issues, but I had done the research to a point to know
how to massage the other browsers to get them to work.

But I want to use technology that will only work in {insert browser name here}.

Then that's your choice to use that technology. However, keep in mind
that a lot of technology nowadays is being developed to run on multiple
browsers and platforms. For example, Silverlight and Flash both have
plugins that work in an assortment of browsers and operating systems. By
choosing an obscure format that limits itself to one particular browser,
you're limiting your end users and narrowing your audience.

My Challenge to Other Web Developers

I'm going to issue a challenge to my fellow web developers. If you're
working on new apps that are "IE Only", ask yourself "Why?" Why is the
app designated as such? What browsers are its users most likely going to
use? If IE is not the sole answer, then maybe take a look at updating the
code to be a bit more inclusive of other browsers.

Get rid of the "IE Only" crutch and become a stronger web developer!