Browser Wars: Debugging Your Website for Out-of-Date Browsers

The profit & price of Internet browser progress

In all likelihood, you’ve been directed here because you have noticed an issue on your website caused by using an out-of-date browser. Jumbled content, strange overlays, abnormal scrolling and unusable navigation are all common symptoms.

Should we debug for an older browser? Although it sounds counterintuitive, sometimes just leaving issues that only affect users with older browsers may be the best solution.

• Browser debugging requires an extremely high level of costly technical expertise.
• Cost estimates are nearly impossible. Seemingly simple issues can take dozens of hours to resolve.
• Return is limited as internet users upgrade to newer systems, and the problems that arise on older browsers only affect a small group of people.

Our policies

Our policy and goal is to provide the greatest possible return we can provide. We, therefore, have adopted the following policies:

• We provide tech support and debugging for all supported browsers (i.e. a browser supported by its developer).
• For any issue that affects the majority of visitors to a website, it immediately becomes our top priority with all hands on deck.
• For issues affecting a minority of visitors, resolution will be scheduled per our standard response times.
• When we find an issue affecting fewer than 5% of visitors or from a product that is unsupported/discontinued by the author, resolution will be provided at a cost per your request, using standard billing rates.

History There are hundreds of web browsers and mobile browsers in existence. Each of those browsers may have a dozen versions. Screen size, fonts, mobile phones, bundled software, settings, design choices, and other factors equate to literally millions of variations of how an individual computer shows a particular web page. Many browsers were built at a time when the web looked quite different than what it does today.

Apple.com Circa 1996

Facts Without standards, effective website development would be impossible. Thankfully, the W3C sets and creates standards which everyone is expected to follow. You may be surprised to learn that Microsoft admits it is a major violator of these standards. The unfortunate reality is that it simply isn’t possible for a web page to look right to everyone. Browser troubles affect every business, including tech giants, like Google. The browser landscape is constantly changing and so we must adapt accordingly.