Serving different Web browsers

[djchuang]

I'm on the gravy train (http://www.bartleby.com/59/4/gravytrain.html), er, bandwagon (http://www.bartleby.com/59/4/climbontheba.html), with using Firefox as my primary Web browser, along with 10 million others (http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-5488279.html). I know it's only 5% of the browser market, with MSIE still holding a vast majority.

The following is a response I got from one church's web team, when I mentioned to them that their navigation menu did not work in Firefox. The website did not have any notation on it saying something like: this website requires MSIE.

"We do not support any browser other than Internet Explorer. Internet
Explorer currently controls about 95% of the browser market. I don't
want to make excuses, however there are many reasons why this is the
case -- the number one reason is that Internet Explorer has effectively
set the standard for web browers within the context of web based
applications (this is why they have 95% of the share). Additionally it
is generally 'expensive' (time/effort) to try to get things to work in
all other browsers.

Having said all that, I do know that our current navigation does not
work other web browsers and I do not like it either. Our upcoming web
site changes (new look and feel) should address this issue as we will be
using a new navigation menu which just so happens to work in many other
browsers."

[orangejack]

I can understand why they feel that way. Why use valuable resources on making things work for that 5%? Well, of course I'd argue, why not design it well the first time without using IE-specific tricks? I know there are other considerations, but all-in-all, good web design will allow cross-browser compatibility.

[JackWolfgang]

DJ, great post. It makes me wonder why we are designing for one browser when it seems the browser war is either heating up again or about to heat up.

OrangeJack, I can understand your point of view as well.

Personally, I am designing in Firefox, and making sure it doesn't look bad in IE later.

[David Gillaspey]

My two cents:

I do my designing (of Great Church Websites) in I.E. on the Macintosh, but check my site in Firefox on the Macintosh from time to time to ensure cross-browser compability. I also check my site in both browsers on my PC. I also have checked my site in Opera, Netscape and Safari.

One could go crazy doing this. Fortunately, my site is pretty simple and things work pretty much OK in different browsers and on different computing platforms.

But I agree with orangejack. A well-designed site should work in multiple browsers (and on both the Mac and PC) without a lot of extra effort.

Take, for example, www.godaddy.com, my domain registrar of choice. When you buy domain names there, you have to get past a number of pages where they try to sell you things you don't need. These pages have two buttons: yes, I want this option; and "Continue" for those who don't want the option.

I've discovered recently that I no longer can buy domain names at Godaddy using I.E. on my Macintosh. That's because the Continue button on the first option page doesn't work. I click on it, and nothing happens. Everything works fine in Firefox on the Macintosh, so now I switch to Firefox to buy domain names at Godaddy.

What gets me is it's just a button, to submit a form! Why shouldn't a simple button to submit a form be cross-browser and cross-platform? What is Godaddy doing to turn a simple concept like that into something that works only in certain browsers?

I feel the same way about links. Bottom-line: The basic functionality of websites should by default be cross-browser and cross-platform.

Having said all that, I believe that every church webmaster needs to sit up and take notice of Firefox. There are many browser options, maybe too many. But Firefox is the one browser besides I.E that church webmasters need to ensure their site works in. This is because adoption of Firefox has a lot of momentum behind it, as DJ points out.

However, Firefox isn't perfect. On the Macintosh, for example, the tab indices about which I make such a big deal on my accessibility pages (www.greatchurchwebsites.org/accessibility_motion.php) just flat out don't work.

I'm also concerned that the screen readers that blind people use to access the web, which probably work best in I.E., might not function well in other browsers.

Sincerely,

David Gillaspey
President
Great Church Websites

[crowsfan85]

I think what I'm most excited about regarding the whole Firefox/IE thing is that since developers realize how much better Firefox is, most of them are now already using Firefox as they're browser to develop in.

Obviously, it's easy to foresee the future: Since developers are building and testing their sites in Firefox, future sites will be more Firefox compatible and people's choice of browser will be more based on browser features, which Firefox will win of course.