Make the A-grade, or fail trying

When Firefox popularity was on the rise, and before the release of IE7, some developers began boycotting IE by dropping support for it on blogs and personal portfolios. It was a rather odd moment in the history of Web technologies. It was both a resurgence in the long fought browser wars, and it was a solid demonstration of ignorance by some in the development community. As much as I understand the frustration, I was saddened to see that this sort of attitude is still prevalent today.

If you are looking for a list of offenders, please look elsewhere. I am not posting here to out designers or developers who show support for a particular browser. Healthy dialog will increase awareness, and by telling our friends and family about alternatives, we are opening new doors of hope. However, as professionals, I find that the inability to provide A-grade support across the board illustrates a lack of commitment and integrity. The two most common excuses: I am tired of trying to get IE to comply, and the majority of my users are using Firefox.

What it means to make the A-grade

The term A-grade support was first coined by the Yahoo! UI Library team to describe the level of support inherent to the YUI JavaScript framework. A superb definition can be found on the Yahoo! Developer Network Web site:

Support does not mean that everybody gets the same thing. Expecting two users using different browser software to have an identical experience fails to embrace or acknowledge the heterogeneous essence of the Web. In fact, requiring the same experience for all users creates a barrier to participation. Availability and accessibility of content should be our key priority.

An appropriate support strategy allows every user to consume as much visual and interactive richness as their environment can support. This approach — commonly referred to as progressive enhancement — builds a rich experience on top of an accessible core, without compromising that core.

According to Yahoo!, approximately 96% of their audience enjoys an A-grade experience. Your audience may in fact be different, but it is likely that most of the clients you serve are more in tune with Yahoo!, or if you are really unlucky, AOL. I am not exhibiting bias toward IE, and let me assure you that I (just like Yahoo!) believe that A-grade support includes Firefox, Opera, Safari and IE. The particular versions and OS are available on Yahoo! Developer Network Web site.

I’m giv’n her all she’s got capt’n

Why you should care on your personal site what browsers you support is a serious question you need to be asking, especially as a Web developer. Not only are the sites you design and build a representation of your workmanship, but the site showcasing these accomplishments should be a professional exhibition of your capabilities. Do not misunderstand me. I am not suggesting features for feature’s sake, or a design worthy of display in CSS galleries across the Internet. I am simply suggesting that you provide like-functionality in A-grade browsers.

Occasionally, even I fail at providing to the public code that works properly in all the right browsers. I have been known to take shortcuts in the past as well, but I hope those days are long behind me. There is enough information available on the Web today, that regardless of how mind-blowing your amazing widget or Web site is, it should simply work… right. Constant complaints about following standards, memory leaks, and a predilection for fanboyism should be placed aside completely. Unfortunately, a small number of us can easily become representative of the whole community in the eyes of clients, and laziness does nothing but continue to diminish reputations.

Help is on the way

Another reason, childish as it may seem, that developers and designers leave unfinished business in browsers, is an inability to ask for help. Finding a good mentor, especially if you freelance full-time, can be difficult. Forums do not always lend the best advice, so getting some feedback or advice can be frustrating. However, if you work in a company with other developers, use that to your advantage, admit when you make mistakes, or are in a bind, and ask for help. A failure to fix something because of an ego is a sure sign of immaturity in this industry.

You might also consider participating in a community like 9rules, or becoming proactive in social networking circles so that you can leverage the knowledge of other experienced developers. Regardless of what you do, you need to find a way to make the A-grade, or at least fail trying.

• Posted by Brian
• November 6th, 2007