Why You Should Still Care About Supporting Older Web Browsers in 2023

As web developers, it‘s easy to get caught up in using the latest and greatest technologies. Newer browsers like Chrome and Firefox roll out support for cutting-edge web standards at a rapid pace, enabling us to create immersive, app-like experiences right in the browser. It‘s an exciting time to build for the web.

However, in our rush to adopt the newest APIs and features, we risk leaving some users behind. Not everyone is using the latest version of a modern browser. Some people, whether by choice or circumstance, are still relying on browsers that are a few versions old, or even using now-defunct browsers that haven‘t been updated in years.

The big question is: should we still care about supporting these older browsers? Is it worth the extra development time and testing to ensure our websites work in outdated browsers with limited feature support?

Understanding the Browser Landscape

To put the older browser support question in context, let‘s look at some recent data on global browser usage.

According to StatCounter, as of January 2023, the worldwide browser market share looks like this:

Browser	Market Share
Chrome	64.91%
Safari	18.84%
Edge	4.41%
Firefox	3.17%
Samsung Internet	2.85%
Opera	2.11%

At first glance, the dominance of modern browsers like Chrome and Safari suggests older browsers are no longer relevant. However, the "long tail" of other browsers still accounts for a significant chunk of web traffic.

Internet Explorer usage, while declining, remains non-trivial. As of January 2023, IE still has over 1% global market share according to StatCounter. That may not sound like much, but with 5 billion global internet users, that translates to around 50 million people still relying on the defunct Microsoft browser.

More importantly, aggregate worldwide browser statistics don‘t paint the full picture. Browser usage varies widely by region, country, and demographic. For example, in some African nations, Opera Mini usage is over 40% due to its data-saving features. In South Korea, homegrown Samsung Internet has over 30% market share.

Older browser usage also skews higher among certain user segments:

• Senior citizens who are less likely to update software
• Low-income individuals on older devices
• Users in developing countries with limited bandwidth
• Large organizations with legacy IT systems

So while overall numbers are low, older browsers remain an important consideration for websites aiming to reach a truly global audience.

Web Accessibility is for Everyone

The founding vision of the web, as laid out by creator Tim Berners-Lee, emphasizes universality and inclusion:

"The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect."

The web is meant to be a global resource, available to all on an equal basis. While web accessibility is often discussed in terms of supporting users with physical impairments or disabilities, it also extends to inclusion across devices, locations, and yes, browser versions.

In fact, the W3C‘s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) explicitly state that websites should "maximize compatibility with current and future user agents, including assistive technologies." In other words, sites should work with the widest possible range of browsers and devices.

Many countries have incorporated WCAG standards into accessibility regulations. For example, the U.S. Section 508 law requires federal agencies to procure accessible technology, with specific rules around browser compatibility.

So supporting older browsers isn‘t just about market reach – it‘s increasingly becoming a legal and compliance necessity for many organizations.

The Risks of Ignoring Older Browsers

By choosing not to support older browser versions, we risk more than just excluding certain users. We could be causing real harm to people and to our own brands and bottom lines in the process:

• Lost Business – If an e-commerce site doesn‘t work on an older browser, those are lost customers and revenue. A study by the W3C found that inaccessible websites could be losing billions in potential sales.

• Frustrated Users – There‘s nothing more frustrating than trying to access a site and being unable to. 90% of users say they‘ve left a website because it didn‘t load correctly on their browser according to a 2019 Unbounce survey.

• Negative Brand Perception – In the age of social media, poor user experiences quickly get called out. 61% of users say they have a better opinion of brands that offer a good mobile browsing experience per socPub.

• SEO Impacts – While search engines will still crawl sites with older browser compatibility issues, poor experiences can lead to higher bounce rates and indexing problems that hurt rankings. Google has stated that site usability is a ranking factor.

• Legal Liability – In some jurisdictions and industries there are legal requirements to provide accessible websites. In a landmark case, retailer Target settled a $6 million lawsuit over accessibility failures.

The potential negative impacts of ignoring older browsers arguably outweigh the development costs of supporting them. It‘s not just the right thing to do, it‘s often the smart business decision as well.

Techniques for Supporting Older Browsers

The good news is, supporting a wide range of browser versions doesn‘t mean we have to build websites like it‘s 1999. There are techniques and tools that allow developers to use modern web standards while still providing usable fallback experiences in older browsers:

• Progressive Enhancement – This design philosophy emphasizes building basic core functionality first, then layering on enhancements for newer browsers. Older browsers still get a usable, if more basic, experience.

• Polyfills – These are JavaScript libraries that replicate newer APIs in older environments. For example, you can use the webcomponents-lite.js polyfill to support Web Components back to IE11.

• Graceful Degradation – With this approach, developers build for the latest browsers first but include fallbacks and alternate experiences where features aren‘t supported. CSS‘s @supports at-rule makes this easier.

• Feature Detection – Rather than trying to detect specific browsers, developers can programmatically check for support of the specific web platform features they want to use. The Modernizr library is a popular tool for this.

• CSS Fallbacks – Modern CSS lets developers specify multiple values for properties, with rules cascading down to supported options in older browsers. Techniques like flexible box layouts help adapt designs to less capable browsers.

We don‘t have to choose between using the latest web technologies and supporting a broad user base. Careful progressive enhancement allows us to do both.

The Business & Ethical Case for Supporting Older Browsers

Supporting older browsers isn‘t just a feel-good, altruistic endeavor. There are bottom-line business incentives for maximizing backward compatibility:

• Reaching Emerging Markets – Areas like Asia, Africa, and South America are seeing rapid growth in internet connectivity. Many of these users are on older devices & browsers. The companies who support them will have an early-mover advantage.

• Government Contracts – In many countries, government agencies are required to procure accessible software and websites. Supporting older browsers could be a requirement for landing lucrative public sector deals.

• Reduced Support Costs – Fewer frustrated users means fewer help desk tickets and support requests coming in. 22% of website issues are related to browser compatibility according to Forrester Research.

• SEO Benefits – Google and other search engines favor websites that work well across different browsers and devices. Sites with broad compatibility tend to earn more backlinks and have lower bounce rates.

It‘s not just about the numbers, though. As professionals who help shape the digital world, we have an ethical obligation to consider the wider impacts of our work. The choices we make as web developers have real consequences for who can and cannot participate in the online sphere.

Building backward-compatible websites is simply the right thing to do if we believe in an equitable, inclusive internet for all. The W3C calls web accessibility "essential for some, useful for all." The same could be said for cross-browser support.

Performance Considerations

One of the main arguments against supporting older browsers is that they tend to be slower and have more limited feature support. This is a valid concern, as performance is increasingly critical to user experience and business metrics.

However, there are ways to optimize websites for strong performance even in older browsers:

• Responsive Design – Use fluid layouts, flexible images, and CSS media queries to adapt designs to different screen sizes and capabilities. A mobile-first approach tends to be more performant.

• Minification – Compress and minify HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to reduce file sizes and load times. Avoid render-blocking resources where possible.

• Caching – Implement browser caching headers to store static assets locally and reduce repeat requests. Use service workers to enable offline functionality.

• Lazy Loading – Defer loading of below-the-fold images and non-critical content until needed. Libraries like lazysizes can automate this.

• Fallbacks – Provide alternative content for features like web fonts, video embeds, and complex animations that may not perform well on older browsers.

Ultimately, delivering a fast, usable experience to the widest possible audience should be the goal. Careful testing and performance optimization can help achieve this even with older browser support.

Conclusion

In a time where web technologies are evolving at breakneck speeds and a few dominant browsers control most of the market, it‘s easy to forget about the segment of users on older and less capable browsers.

However, as developers, we have a responsibility to consider the wider implications of our work. The web was founded on principles of universality and inclusion. By building sites that are backward compatible, we carry those principles forward and ensure the web remains true to its vision.

Yes, supporting older browsers takes extra effort and resources. But it‘s the right thing to do – for disadvantaged users, for a more equitable society, and for building a more resilient, future-proof web.

Let‘s build websites that everyone can use, regardless of their device or software. The internet will be better for it.