LessFuss Design

I’ve been taking a look at Andy Clarke’s new solution to the old Internet Explorer 6 problem – using one universal CSS file for all sites (with ‘a little branding here, or a touch of customization there’) – and I’ve decided I don’t really like it. I don’t like it because it serves web designers and developers, rather than the right people – clients and users. And because I think it will promote laziness when it comes to testing sites in IE6, which – like it or not – will most likely be around for a while yet.
On Andy’s list of current IE6 solutions, I’m mostly in favour of #2 (Write alternative stylesheets for Internet Explorer 6). I’ve used IE6-specific styles on a number of websites (including this one), where I know the old girl is going to wobble with some of the main CSS rules (usually max and min width). If writing and implementing IE6-only CSS was a massive pain in the you know what, which added significantly to development time (and client costs), then I’d most likely be all over a universal CSS file like a rash, but it isn’t.

It’s not like I’m a luddite IE6 fan club member, I’d prefer it if it wasn’t around just like anyone else. And I’m an advocate of encouraging folks on older browsers to move up to something more current, which is exactly the goal behind Andy’s solution. But I don’t agree with doing it by penalising users of Internet Explorer 6 – or my client.

Penalise might sound a bit harsh, but that’s what it amounts to. Andy Clarke states that by simplifying the layout and concentrating on beautiful typography, you put the focus on content:

When I asked myself why people visit my sites, and the ones that I make for other people, the answer was always “for the content”. Content that is almost always written words and that means type.

Almost always written words? What Internet are you using? Like Isaiah says in the comments , ‘But what if your content is not text?  What if you’re an artist and want to show off your work in a way that grabs the attention of the viewer?’. Right on, and let’s face it so much of what makes up web content these days is visual, and web design is becoming more an intrinsic part of the content and less an attractive frame in which to put words. If you’re an artist with a kick-ass portfolio that has this Universal IE6 CSS behind it, then yes your site might work in Internet Explorer 6 (that is, your IE6 users get to see your images and the captions), but it aint going to work (like it’s not going to have anything close to the impact it could have). And not because IE6 isn’t capable of delivering that impact, but because your developer, high on FireFox plugins, couldn’t face the discomfort of doing it.

Looking at it like this it’s the client who’s losing out. If you can win your client over and convince them that the best way forward is to use their website to educate the masses on upgrading a piece of software, then go for it. But I don’t think any of the clients I’ve had would be so benevolent. I can’t imagine showing designs to a client and saying ‘I’m going to build you this here masterpiece, but bear in mind some of your potential customers, the ones using IE6, are going to see this instead. But you can feel good, ‘cos you’re educating them’. He’ll say to me ‘IE what?’, then tell me to make it look the same for everyone.

And that’s just one of my clients, a local builder or a not-for-profit. Imagine how totally ridiculous it would sound putting that to the board of a big multinational with a brand and identity to protect. (OK, so by ‘a little branding here, a touch of customization there’ you can still get some of that brand identity across, but would that really be enough?)

Clients and customers aside, my other worry is what something like a Universal IE6 CSS file would mean for the design community’s attitude to IE6 and cross-browser testing. Even those coders who do currently check their output in IE6 might be tempted to dispense with that rather unpleasant task if they’re using the magic CSS that makes it all alright in IE6.

And if that happens, it may well be that the user experience for the folks on IE6 might gradually deteriorate further and nobody in the design community will even notice, simply because they’re not having even the occasional glance. One size doesn’t fit all, and even if you do use a universal CSS file you’ve got to see the output – I’ll bet you’d need to do more than a ‘little’ customization to get it to work.

The bottom line for me is this: it’s good to advocate upgrading to better browsers, but not at the expense of customer experience, and certainly not at your client’s indulgence. Most of the people using IE6 couldn’t upgrade even if they wanted to, they’re in schools, or libraries, or on corporate networks where software downloads are blocked. And the rest, well, if they gave two shakes what they used to do their surfing with they’d have upgraded by now, wouldn’t they?

Let’s stop plotting how to rid the world of IE6 and get on with making things work on it. Isn’t having to use IE6 punishment enough in itself? Let’s at least try and make the experience as enjoyable as we possibly can for the poor souls who have it, whether by choice or not.