Should You Design for All Versions of Internet Explorer?

Internet Explorer is the bane of all frontend web developers. When compared to Firefox, for example, it is slower and does not offer half as many addon plugins and toolbars. Above all, however, the main criticism of Internet Explorer (IE) is that it does not render HTML properly. And because each version of Internet Explorer behaves differently, a web page may not always look the same for visitors browsing with IE.

Getting Around The IE Problem

Clearly, Internet Explorer’s inconsistent rendering of web pages is a big problem for web designers. And there are two main approaches used to deal with this issue: (1) designing for a limited set of browsers or (2) designing for an expanded set of browsers.

Approach 1: Designing for a limited set of browsers

Some webmasters will only design their websites for a particular browser and display a compatibility notice on their web pages which states something like this: This website is viewed best in Firefox. Download Firefox here. And while many people have opted to do this, it is not recommended.

While the web development community may opt for other more compliant browsers, half of web surfers still use Internet Explorer. So by opting not to design a website compatible with this browser means that you’d be alienating half of your potential visitors.

Approach 2: Designing for an expanded set of browsers

In comparison, you can also opt to design for all modern browsers. While this approach does necessitate the most amount of work, it will ensure that all of your visitors will be easily able to view and use your website.

But what does all mean?

Which Versions Should You Care About?

There are many different versions of Internet Explorer. And as we mentioned earlier, each version behaves differently. As a result, you might find it a chore to ensure compatibility with all of them. Fortunately, this is not necessary. The key to success is to ensure compatibility with the modern versions. Modern refers to versions that are currently in use.

You will probably find different suggestions across the internet, but we suggest considering browser statistics when ensuring browser compatibility. According to W3Schools, the usage of Internet Explorer, as a percentage of all internet users, is as follows:

• IE7 – 26.4%
• IE6 – 25.3%
• IE5 – 0.3%

Using these statistics as a guide, we recommend developing your websites for Internet Explorer versions 6 and 7. And looking ahead, you might also want to consider Internet Explorer 8 which is currently in the beta stage. This new version will probably be released shortly, so it is a good idea to ensure compatibility with it. (The beta version can be downloaded here.) And if you are feeling ambitious, feel free to ensure compatibility with IE5. All earlier versions are obsolete.

To see a complete breakdown of browser statistics, click here to go to the W3Schools website.