Browser usage statistics may help
Web browsers' capabilities vary enormously. So you must decide which browsers your web site will support and then check that it works well in all of them.
Written by Philip Chalmers who is based in the Medway area of Kent, England, United Kingdom.
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Not all browsers are equal
Browser usage statistics may help |
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The Web has grown so fast that:
You can't even rely on browsers to display images:
Ideally you should know which versions of which browsers your users are most likely to use.
This is fairly easy on an intranet, where the users' equipment and software are likely to be standardised.
It's much more difficult on the Web, where anyone can visit your pages.
There are web pages where you can find browser usage statistics.
We suggest that about once a year you use a search engine to search for
"browser statistics".
You need to be careful when using such statistics:
Notice how they change over time.
You should try to work out the trend
so that you're designing for the future, not the past.
| Browser Version | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | |||||
| Apr | Jul | Oct | Jan | Apr | Jul | Oct | Jan | |
| Internet Explorer 6 | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 9% | 23% |
| Internet Explorer 5 | 51% | 60% | 66% | 72% | 79% | 81% | 71% | 64% |
| Internet Explorer 4 | 26% | 20% | 15% | 12% | 8% | 7% | 5% | 4% |
| Internet Explorer 3 | 1% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Netscape 4 | 16% | 14% | 13% | 10% | 7% | 5% | 5% | 4% |
| Netscape 3 | 1% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Other browsers | 5% | 6% | 6% | 6% | 7% | 7% | 10% | 5% |
Based on statistics at W3schools
Specify what browsers, versions and operating systems your pages should work with.
Test all your pages with these browsers before you part with any money.
