Macadamian Blog

How do you ensure an application is compatible with future web browsers?

For this one, we'll defer to 3 expert panelists from Macadamian: Aaron Olson, Gord P, and Jason Mawdsley.

Aaron: The best thing to do here is to be compatible with current browsers using as few browser-specific hacks as possible (ideally none).

Gord: Choose an explicit set of browser+minimum-version before any other compatibility scope is defined.
Be prepared to accept "reduced functionality" for IE6 users. If you don't do this, you will compromise the structure and maintainability of your templates

Also, isolate hacks in separate browser-specific CSS / JavaScript files.

Do not agree to full W3C compliance, but strive for it.

Jason: Sort of yes to what Gord said. IE6 is still a significant share of web hits. I am not sure what the percentage is now.

IE6 support WILL be painful, and will cause a lot of work and testing.

Design to W3C standards, and have QC validate all UI changes with Firefox plugins and fail any non-compliant changes.

Aaron: One final note about W3C compliance - be sure not to use any deprecated features of HTML. Certain tags and attributes have been replaced with better, modern equivalents, usually involving CSS.

There is what looks like a decent list here.

During development, use the strictly-compliant DTD - this can save you from having to go back and fix non-compliant sections later.

Gord's right - strive for compliance but don't insist on it.