In order to focus our energy on new functionalities and features, We are following the lead of tech trend-setters Google and Facebook and dropping cross browser testing support for Internet Explorer 7. Due to its declining use, developing for this version specifically no longer makes sense for your site.
The use of this outdated version of the IE browser has been dwindling. As of March 2013, 13% of the world’s population are browsing the internet using Internet Explorer. According to W3schools, only .8% of these users are still operating IE7. After learning of this decline and conducting additional research, we decided to join other progressive development companies to drop IE7 support for the majority of future website projects.
Get the most for your money
Designing for IE7 diverts your development dollar. IE7 along with other outdated web browsers lack the capabilities of holding up to modern web standards or properly displaying modern CSS3 and HTML5 features. Developers can sometimes create simple fallbacks for older browsers, however it’s not so easy for more complex functionalities and applications. While the majority of your web content will work properly for this small fraction of users, some of the design and functionality enhancements may be missing.
If we continue to create sites for older browsers, we end up sacrificing the delivery of high quality, powerful web content to your users. limiting IE7 testing will also free up time in budgets for focusing on more dynamic and engaging features. As your digital marketing river guide it is our job to keep you pushing forward with the current, instead if beaching on a rocky bank.
Who else is on board?
Through our research on this issue, we learned that Google and Facebook have dumped support for IE7. Smashing Magazine has also posted a great article on why you should update your browser.
But what if your website visitors are still using IE7? Should we cross browser test for it?
Target audience should always be taken into consideration when planning a website. Not every company will have users on modern browsers, in fact some may have a majority of target audience members using IE7. If a larger number of your site visitors are still operating IE7, we will take that into consideration during the design phase and support for IE7 will be factored into the initial budget.
These types of specialized concerns are exactly why we share these nuts and bolts decisions with our readers and clients. The more informed we all strive to become, more we can accomplish together.