Blocking IE 6?

Oct 25, 2009

I am considering blocking all users who use Internet Explorer 6 from viewing this website (support will remain for Born Geek). Viewers using this old browser would instead be given a dialog offering links to other, more competent browsers (including IE 7 and 8). Is there anyone who regularly visits this website that still uses IE 6 and doesn't want me to block them? I see that IE 6 still accounts for 13.5% of traffic to this site, which is surprising to me. Interestingly enough, Firefox only accounts for 37.7% of the visitors here.

If you're an IE 6 user, and you want to continue viewing this site in your antiquated browser, let me know in the comments. If I don't hear from anyone in the next two weeks, I'm gonna drop the ban hammer and start rejecting visitors who use it.

2 Comments

kip

2:49 AM on Oct 26, 2009
Why completely block them? You could just stop supporting IE6 but let them continue to see potentially broken layouts. They're probably growing increasingly accustomed to broken sites anyway. Besides, most IE6 users are unable to upgrade.

Jonah

1:18 PM on Oct 26, 2009
At some level, that's where I'm at today: IE 6 is "not supported" on this site (the layout is pretty broken when viewing it in IE 6). You make a good point about users not always being able to upgrade, though I don't know why they don't just install another browser alongside IE on their work machines. You can even run some browsers from a USB key! You've given me something to think about...

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