So one of the most important tasks for me in the past has been to ensure that all visitors to my site (or web application) have as identical an experience as possible. So, irrespective of what browser or operating system or hardware they come with, my site/application will be essentially the same. Clearly, this particular goal is not the way to go anymore.
Ultimately, every website or web application which comes to the table with this particular requirement is immediately hamstrung by the pain that is known as IE6. There are loads of campaigns being waged all over the web to get this ancient fossil killed off. But, as Microsoft have gone on record to say, that won’t happen until formal support for Windows XP ends.
Settling for this way of life is not very progressive nor enhancing. So why not take advantage of Progressive Enhancement? I’m guessing that in reading this blog, you’re familiar with the notion, but in case you’re not, it boils down to developing a baseline of services and functionality that is available and accessible to every potential end user. Then, you can build richness, additional tools and functionality on top of that which become available to those users who may have a setup capable of taking advantage of it. Cool… And OK, I’ve majored on IE6 – and that’s wrong because the concept is much more than that – but the idea of progressive enhancement is becoming quite attractive. You may have a requirement for high-end accessibility and support for the likes of Lynx.
As the web development world moves on to HTML5 and CSS3, it seems insane to overlook the wealth of great things that are included in these specifications and stick with something that will ensure the biggest audience. Why not do both and give all your users the best that you can offer them in their environment?
I’m looking forward to doing some investigation into the best way to promote and implement progressive enhancement in sites and applications, and perhaps looking into whether any of the off-the-shelf products (e.g. ECM, Content Management, CRM, etc.) that I use regularly in my work are paying attention to this subject.
