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Which browsers do we test for?

With many of us using the internet on a daily basis we become accustomed to the browser we use to surf the web. Our web browsers are simply software applications that allow us to retrieve, present, and traverse information on the web and are packed with the latest features and technology to simplify, accelerate and enhance our browsing experience so it seems logical to pick the best browser for the job when it’s something many people use so frequently.

In the current era there are a large range of web browsers we are able to choose from. The ‘big players’ are Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple’s Safari, Opera and Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (IE) but there’s a much more extensive selection making up a less significant percentage of the market. Each browser has a selection of unique features and range of added functionality and making an informed choice as to which is best to use is more important than ever. With Microsoft now shipping PC’s which allow user’s the choice of 12 browsers there’s an ever increasing awareness that there are alternatives to Internet Explorer, which is currently the most widespread browser on the market.

The information we see and the viewing pleasure we experience is affected by our browser choice as web pages tend to be rendered slightly differently depending on the browser used, but general good practice from a development side ensures web pages are displayed as uniformly across browsers as they were intended to be viewed. At Big Dot Media our websites are tested across multiple browsers which cover all the ‘big players’ previously mentioned and versions of Internet Explorer from IE6 to the most current on the market. This means that for people viewing our websites we can confidently deliver equal viewing pleasure across a plethora of browsers they may be using. The multiple browsers we test across cover an estimated 99%+ of the market share, which in current times is a hotly contested field where we’re seeing the prominent IE slowly fall from power. According to Stat Counter’s global statistics the current browser market share is as follows;

Testing across browsers is an important part of any developer’s work process and when we do so we are looking to achieve consistency, accessibility, proper presentation and user friendliness for the greatest audience accessing our websites. The process can be tedious, time consuming but a good understanding of fixes that can be used and good coding eliminate many issues. Older browsers such as IE6 can be particularly troublesome with its lack of support for transparency, CSS and JavaScript incompatibilities plus security flaws to name a few obstacles we have to work around.

So why doesn’t everybody just move away from IE6 and on to more modern, efficient and well supported browsers? Well the reason being is that most websites are intended to be as accessible as possible to a widespread market and IE6 happens to represent a large portion of this market as a significant segment of the public sector still runs IE6. Organisations in the UK including the council and NHS all still run IE6 on Windows XP and 2000 operating systems and have been painfully slow to upgrade their systems. Costs tend to be the main factor as propriety licenses for modern operating systems needed to run newer browsers such as IE8 are never cheap and large scale organisations have a tendency for sticking with what works well with regards to IT, even if it is out dated. The process of upgrading the browser is the lesser issue and relatively cost free, it’s more the cost of updating the OS or hardware and whether training is implemented, that has prolonged the public sectors updating. Furthermore it’s worth noting that often people in the public sector or on their personal computers have freedom to update but either aren’t aware of alternatives, the problems with their current browser or are simply happy to use something they are familiar with.

However with Google announcing that it’s dropping IE6 support after exploitations of the browsers poor security and Microsoft also soon ending support and acknowledging IE6′s faults it’s now imminent that we will see the public sectors moving towards more modern browsers and IE6 will eventually not be an inhibiting factor to consider when testing across browsers. In some European countries we’re even seeing the government endorsing upgrading to a modern browser, the ball is rolling but for now it’s still good practice to test in IE6. Some even go as far to say using IE6 in the corporate environment is malpractice and criticisms from a developer’s perspective mainly surround the notion IE6 is inhibiting modern and excellent technologies web developers are pushing and bringing to our browsers.

With the advent of HTML5 and CSS3, browser upgrades will be even more difficult to ignore as we move towards open standards and new technology. Eventually support will stop for browsers which do not live up to the widely accepted standards and the key question to be asking is when it is time to upgrade and what to? The move will be on the horizon for most people and organisations and an informed decision will be crucial. Safari, Chrome and Firefox are already making great headway with excellent support for HTML5 and CSS3 and new websites are emerging showcasing the brilliant potential of the technologies.

Inevitably there will always be late switchers and stubborn users of IE6 but eventually web developers will stop being hindered by older browsers and be able to demonstrate new exciting features HTML5 and CSS3 will bring. For now testing in IE6 and similar will be a part of our routine for reasons mentioned but there’s a lot to look forward to. Upgrade or replace your browser today and you will notice some of the emerging new technologies about the web, have a nicer browsing experience and relieve a lot of web developer’s headaches all over the world.