Internet Explorer 6, despite it’s lack of conformity and compatibility has dominated the browser market since 2001. It is now seven years later, yet a considerable amount of people still use IE6 although IE7 came out in late 2006 – Is it the right time to drop web support for IE6?

I think not. I think it’s wrong to turn away visitors. In 2007, Internet Explorer 6 had a market share of 32.64%, which equates to approximately one out of every three visitors which enters your site. I feel like dropping support at this stage is like saying: “To enter this site, you must wear a black tee-shirt, black skinny jeans, and must be from Uganda”. Especially if you are an ecommerce site, you are potentially strangling the flow of visitors to your site which is, obviously, the antithesis result you should be aiming for.

Some critics have argued that these people are ‘lazy’ for not updating their browser. I find this an extremely judgemental statement. How can you judge a person’s attributes through the browser they use? Factors for not updating is probably because they are not computer literate, or the fact that they might not like the look of IE7 and have downgraded to a more familiar looking IE6 - you know what old people are like. I also find the statement ironic – To label visitors as ‘lazy’ and not providing support for potentially one third of your visitors, is in my opinion lazy. A simple fix may be a alternative stylesheet, or a whole new page which are free of non-IE6-complient AJAX scripts.

Ultimately, what is the goal of your website? Is it a portal for visitors – or is it like a secret club, which is racially selective, in a browserly way?