browser support
There are over 1 million sites with notices stating that a “browser is not supported“, typically in large, bold type at the top of the page. Why would a site choose not to support a browser? Browsers should only be expected to render sites which follow the standards provided by the W3C. Nothing more, nothing less. If you stick to the standards and ignore tags or features that are only implemented by individual browsers then your site will support all of the major browsers. It’s quite simple really.
The ironic thing is that most of the sites I see with such requirements have no reason to use anything but normal tags. It’s almost as if they’re trying to break the site for other browsers by using complicated javascript inside their hrefs or using flash for the navigation. It also doesn’t make the visitor feel particularly welcome when the first thing they see is that their browser isn’t supported. It’s as if you’re entering a parking garage in a Ferrari and there’s a sign telling you that it was made especially for Yugo’s and it your car may not fit in the parking spaces. The problem does not lie with the Ferrari family.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Web sites exist primarily to provide information. By using non-standard tags, you limit who can access your information thereby frustrating the original intent of the internet. Validate your HTML and all will be well.
With the trouble that some site admins go through to “drive traffic” to their sites, it is amazing that they don’t make their sites accessible to all.
I agree that the solution is simple. Don’t use proprietary tags and everyone will be happy. The problem is that people are lazy and don’t know which tags are standard and which aren’t.
If, by that, you mean that you should ignore all the features in the standards that are not implemented consistently between the different browsers, then sure. But that’s not quite simple unless your design is quite simple. I agree that excluding browsers is not a great idea, but it is a lot simpler and easier than going through the effort to make your page work right on different browsers and conform to standards.
That’s a good point and I’ll admit to oversimplifying things (especially with style sheets) but I would much rather be in the position of having my site conform to all the standards and be valid. At least then you would have an argument against some browsers (ahem, IE) that don’t conform to the standards.
If new browsers (like Opera) become more popular and conform to the standards, then you don’t have to do anything to your site. If you design the site for each browser, you can’t get to all of them so it may be broken in those you missed.