As the results pour in from the W3 schools monthly report for the browser usage compiled across the Internet (yep, I’m a geek.) The results show that us web designer munchkins are dancing around the soon to be curled up toes of the ‘worlds favourite browser’ IE6.

For those of you that have not had the misfortune to troubleshoot some of IE6′s more quirky interpretations of CSS, then this does not really mean too much. Have a quick look at an entire sub culture of hatred surrounding IE6. This link to RIP IE6 will probably sum it up.

However, if you count yourself amongst some of the footsoldiers in the trench warfare of cross browser compatibility and have had to fix some of the common bugs (a good article that sums this up) and the not so common ones (the Peek-a-boo bug) then you, my friends deserve to cheer like a Victorian mob at a public hanging.

The W3C results indicate that the Internet Explorer users have dwindled down to only 26% of the Market share. This share has been in steady decline since 2005. Of that only 4.4% now use this legacy browser.

Is it Dead then?

With many major websites such as Youtube, Ebay and even Google (see google latest blog update Jan 29th) now dropping support for IE6 due to security, maintenance and development budget it will not be far off before the smaller companies run suit. There are still some companies that require IE6 for their software integration and a few die hards that are sat behind firewalls that are scared of downloading any type of upgrade. Wouldn’t it also be ironic if us web developers were the 4.4% of the last IE6 users, just simply testing websites?

Some developers have dropped support for IE6 altogether or now charge special “legacy browser” rates to create compatibility.

I for one will be glad to see the back of it.

Do you love IE6?

Now before the Internet Explorer 6 masochists pipe up and say the argument that has pretty much appeared on every single IE6 hatred blog out there, which runs along the lines of ‘If you prepared the ground for IE6 compatibility first, then there shouldn’t be too much fuss and bother.’ I would like to add the caveat that this is indeed best practice and with proper planning, knowledge and tried and tested means of creating a solid template, then most of these known issues will be incorporated in to the development.

What I refer to are the times when you, as a developer, get hired to sort out an existing website or fly into the realms of experimentation, only to be brought back to earth by rewriting or creating conditional stylesheets targeted  for IE6.

illustration thanks to robotjohnny.com

Now this argument is respectfully a valid one, as good web design should cater for the user foremost, but it is becoming increasingly irrelevant when the browser share has dipped so dramatically to spend additional development time to support a diminishing user base of IE6-ers.

As web designers we all like to experiment and try out innovation, it is easy to get carried away in the development browser only to find that it is completely blown apart by IE6 on testing. How painful has it been to shelve something or spend an hour on a conditional work around so that an IE6 user can use the site oblivious to the additional work and code taken to achieve the same result?

I’m sure this comes as some relief to know that IE6 is finally being voted away by the clicks of users who are migrating to another browser such as Chrome,Safari and Firefox et al. I guess the acceleration of browser upgrades and migration has occurred due to both windows 7 and last years court order against Microsoft by Opera that has forced Microsoft in to providing a “browser choice screen”.

Conclusion

IE6 looks to be finally leaving the web developers peripheral vision. I personally think this is a good thing, so that we as web designers can carry on and innovate, design and create valid, standards compliant websites in relative comfort. To the web designers of the IE6 era. I salute you!

It’s official, the google blog has announced that IE6 will no longer be supported.

Link here

This is great news for web developers (read the overview why here) and application designers.

It is going to be great to say to a client “Not even google supports IE6 now!”

Hope this brightens up your development year.

Now you can use a splash page as extreme as this.

Don't sugar coat it sweetheart!

Source (original creator)

If these basic tests to determine the health of your website have come back and are unfortunately negative, or you have decided to act upon building a good online presence, then the following tips are a good starting point.

If you focus on these three points initially, then this would help form a stable foundation to cover all of your bases. Obviously, each website is unique and the role that each website performs will differ from purpose to purpose. This article is intended as a broad brush stroke, to touch briefly upon the different facets of a successful design.

Keeping your Website Design Simple.

This can sound a bit trite but can be simplified down to the golden rule: “Keep it Simple Stupid” or “KISS” for those of us that like acronyms.

Keep It Simple Stupid or KISS for short

Some quick things to consider when starting out on a website design are:

1. Go for a pleasant colour palette for your website and make sure that it does not interrupt the information or data that ultimately your viewers are there to find. A Black background and vivid green text or white background and light grey text might make that important information hard to read.
2. Well spaced and easily legible chunks of type/ images. Think of a way a magazine or newspaper is laid out. Keep it like that, as viewers are accustomed to this type of format. Look at other websites as to how they lay their pages out, you will quickly see a trend with the more successful websites to adopt and adapt to your own website.
3. Contact information, is it easy for the visitor to reach your organisation further? Sometimes a website is simply a calling card for a physical service, such as a builders.
4. Graphic elements that have a negative impact on your design, poor quality images or flashing/blinking text are big no no’s.

How Not To’s

The following website has lots of real life horror show website examples and is also an amusing read of how NOT to design a website. Web Pages That Suck This gives information overload on elements to avoid and any web designer worth their salt will know these instinctively.

My personal favourite is the fabric land website, which is a company from Poole, Dorset. My home town. www.fabricland.co.uk. If your website looks like this then maybe it is time to get a new one. Ironically the fabricland website possibly gets more views due to its link from a website signalling bad web design practices.

Good Website Navigation

Good website navigation allows a user/viewer to feel that they can access the information they are looking for in usually less than two or three clicks of the mouse.

Web design is not just about getting the crayons out and drawing a pretty frame for the data of your website. Designing a website also encompasses organising the navigational structure so that your viewers can locate items logically and easily in something called the “User Interface” Wikipedia-link. This User Interface is the page and all elements within it.

Easy Navigation

A user should be able to browse their way around your website by clicking on links and menus to get to where they need to be. Good website navigation allows a user/viewer to feel that they can access the information they are looking for in usually less than two or three clicks of the mouse.

As websites have been in existence for over a decade now, the online population is fairly savvy as to what to expect from navigation. Again, try not to deviate too heavily from the accepted norms. This can sometimes lead to a user/viewer becoming confused with your navigation. This will lead to a negative experience and people online vote with their proverbial feet.

Good Content

If your website looks good and navigates well but the content on each page is a jumbled mess then this is also something else to focus on.

Good website content should communicate your brands message and provide a logical journey for your viewer to follow. If you want a viewer to perform or behave in a certain way on your website then reflect this in the content. Good content also gives something to the user, whether that is access to data or information that the user ultimately wants. Remember they came to your website for a purpose. Harnessing their purpose and providing them with the means to easily achieve what they came to do will give them a positive experience. It is often quoted around the internet that “Content is king” and this is one of the overriding truisms. After all, what is style without substance?

“Content is king”

Website Design Conclusion:

Hopefully these foundation points will provide a way forward for you to form a strategy to deal with your website. By performing a website health that I have written about in this article check first It might conclusively prove that the website is no longer the online marketing tool or useable application that your company thinks that it is.

If you do discover some unhealthy aspects in this process then fear not, as acting on any negatives that get discovered by focusing on the three main areas outlined above will provide a plan of attack to dealing with the problems.

If you consider a website as part of your overall company image then harnessing it to achieve a positive customer experience is arguably as important as having a well presented shopfront on the high street.