I’ve seen far too many websites that are inaccessible while using a browser other than IE6 or IE7. This is an absolute mistake by the web developer. Internet Explorer has been losing market share fast, and with good reason. Internet Explorer is simply the worst W3C compatible major browser, no question about it. If you don’t know what W3C standards are, it is the standards in which HTML, CSS and XHTML are created upon for browsers to base their layout engines upon so the markup is displayed correctly.
Using the Acid2 test, we are able to see just how compatible a browser is towards W3C standards. Most browsers are at least somewhat compatible, with some others being completely compatible. Internet Explorer is by far the least compatible out of the major browsers used.
Just how bad is Internet Explorer?
How W3C compatible browsers display the Acid2 test
How Acid2 is displayed on popular browsers
Above: Opera 9+, Safari 10.4.3+, Firefox 3+
Above: Firefox 1.5 & 2
Above: Netscape 7
Above: Internet Explorer 6
Above: Internet Explorer 7
More reason
Statistics have also shown a downturn in Internet Explorer users over the past several years:
If you are making or own a tech site, it is even more important to check cross-browser usability. For the month of September, this website saw 47.51% using Firefox, 45.35% using Internet Explorer and 5.16% with Safari.
Written: Oct 4, 2007
Tags: acid2, browser, ie6, ie7, internet explorer, usability
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