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My personal opinion, as a foss developer who does more than 90% of the commits on a relatively complicated Web aplication, is: NEVER. I have committed myself to

My personal opinion, as a foss developer who does more than 90% of the commits on a relatively complicated Web aplication, is: NEVER. I have committed myself to supporting every browser in every configuration, because anything less is non-inclusive and assumptive about the user's abilities and capabilities. I will always bend over backwards to accommodate every user, because I want the experience of visiting my websites to be like that of a luxury hotel that caters to every need, rather than project housing or prison that forces to conform. I also think it is rather rude to assume that the user can change anything about their setup. I think of this type of accommodation as wheelchair ramps, which serve only a small demographic, but are pretty much universally agreed upon as being necessary. And yes, I support Internet Explorer, Lynx, and NetSurf.

kstrauser 3y ago
I disagree. While I appreciate the thinking, it’s not at all like wheelchair ramps. Supporting IE actively made life worse for everyone else. Resources are limited, so dragging that junk heap along meant that developer time was wasted on it instead of adding new features people wanted. Wheelchair ramps are useful for everyone at some time, even if it’s just helping someone push a cart a little more easily.
- forgotmypw17 3y ago
  If a user only has IE and no ability to upgrade it, should I make extra effort to provide them with accessibility, or should I just tell them to fuck off, blocking them from information that is critical for them to access? I choose the former, because I think the extra effort is worth it. Resources are not unlimited, but it's also quite feasible, if you are creative and not lazy. And if you cannot even support IE, I guess you think that textmode browsers, visually impaired support, slow network connections, and other accessibility modes are also not worth your time?
  - kstrauser 3y ago
    That’s so unfair of you not to support Mosaic. What about the people who can’t upgrade past HTML1 browsers? My point being, it’s great to support all modern browsers (which excludes IE altogether, but definitely including screen readers). If you’re a library, go ahead and support dialup and Lynx, too, if you can afford the dev time. If you’re an e-commerce site, and spending more than hobby time supporting Lynx and 56k, I might think you’re nuts for doing it.
    - forgotmypw17 3y ago
      I actually do support Mosaic in the framework, although it is challenging to get working on a live server.

kstrauser 3y ago

I disagree. While I appreciate the thinking, it’s not at all like wheelchair ramps. Supporting IE actively made life worse for everyone else. Resources are limited, so dragging that junk heap along meant that developer time was wasted on it instead of adding new features people wanted. Wheelchair ramps are useful for everyone at some time, even if it’s just helping someone push a cart a little more easily.

forgotmypw17 3y ago
If a user only has IE and no ability to upgrade it, should I make extra effort to provide them with accessibility, or should I just tell them to fuck off, blocking them from information that is critical for them to access? I choose the former, because I think the extra effort is worth it. Resources are not unlimited, but it's also quite feasible, if you are creative and not lazy. And if you cannot even support IE, I guess you think that textmode browsers, visually impaired support, slow network connections, and other accessibility modes are also not worth your time?
- kstrauser 3y ago
  That’s so unfair of you not to support Mosaic. What about the people who can’t upgrade past HTML1 browsers? My point being, it’s great to support all modern browsers (which excludes IE altogether, but definitely including screen readers). If you’re a library, go ahead and support dialup and Lynx, too, if you can afford the dev time. If you’re an e-commerce site, and spending more than hobby time supporting Lynx and 56k, I might think you’re nuts for doing it.
  - forgotmypw17 3y ago
    I actually do support Mosaic in the framework, although it is challenging to get working on a live server.