![]() And, if you have this type of data for the site you’re working on, even better. If you’re hoping to find out which browser version should serve as a cutoff point, it makes sense to reference those usage numbers mentioned above. Your site should be just as usable with or without them. If you’re using CSS3 goodies like shadows and rounded corners, it’s probably not worth the time to provide alternatives. When it comes to items that are more for aesthetics than functionality, they can often be left as-is. Things like layout and navigation should be thought of as “too big to fail”. So, it’s important to provide some sort of fallback for older systems. Features like Flexbox or CSS Grid that affect layout are vital to the usability of a website. Personally, I think part of the equation should be about the features you’re using. ![]() That’s because there really isn’t a hard-and-fast rule about backwards compatibility. But how far back should we go? If you ask 100 different designers, you may get 100 different answers. We know that we can support legacy browsers. This keeps things as light as possible while providing a big help in ensuring backwards compatibility. For example, you can choose to look for features such as canvas, HTML5 Audio/Video or even emoji. The great thing is that, before you download the script, you can pick and choose which features you want to detect. You can then leverage that class to provide alternative styles if a feature isn’t supported in the user’s browser. It’s a script that will detect browser support for specific features and adds a CSS class to a page’s body accordingly. ![]() Your job can also be made easier with the help of tools like Modernizr. But as you test on various browser versions and devices, you can make tweaks as needed. The further back you go in terms of providing an alternative, the trickier it can get. Not every CSS feature will have this type of fallback, but usually there is always a way around whatever problems you run into. In general, a fallback is code that will allow an outdated browser to use an acceptable alternative to what we’re trying to achieve.įor example, if you’re using Flexbox, there are some available browser prefixes that will enable limited support in older versions of Chrome, Safari, Firefox and IE. ![]() So, how can we implement new features while still making designs usable in older browsers? When it comes to CSS, using fallback methods can be a big help. Using the Latest and Greatest – With Fallback Support However, it doesn’t mean that we should hesitate to use the latest features. Taking this into account, it means that we do need to take older browsers seriously. Safari is the second most widely used mobile browser. It would seem that the effect here would really be on mobile design, as there are still a number of old iPhone models out there. The latest version of Apple’s Safari won’t run on some older Macs or iOS devices. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that users in these environments are allowed to install them.īut it goes beyond IE. Granted, Chrome and Firefox can be used on these systems. So if large companies stick with Windows 7 or 8, IE will remain the default choice. At least that’s the case in the consumer category.Ĭorporations are still hanging on to older versions of Windows, and that often means sticking with IE. Cheaper PCs and the sheer amount of mobile web usage would seem to indicate that IE will eventually fall off the map. But it looks like its demise is still a few years off. In a perfect world, designers would love to see the likes of Internet Explorer simply fade into history. The question is how do we continue to support old browsers while still using new features? And, how far back should we go? But they’re still high enough that they need to be a consideration when building a new website. Sure, the numbers are nowhere near what they used to be when it comes to IE. IE still accounts for about 13% of desktop device usage. IE 8 placed sixth, while IE 9 came in tenth. Amazingly, according to NetMarketShare, Internet Explorer 11 was still third on the list of most-used browsers for the year 2017. And it’s already helping to push CSS grid into production environments, as well.īut we also know that there are still users out there who are running older software. It has undoubtedly led to more of us who feel safe in using features like Flexbox, knowing that the majority of users have updated browsers to support it. This was not only a stroke of genius for security’s sake, but also a boon for designers looking to use the latest CSS3 features. Now, even Microsoft’s Edge has joined the always-in-date party. For so many years, we had to rely on users to make the effort to download new versions as they were released. Thank goodness for web browsers keepings themselves up-to-date.
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