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The Personal Blog of Jack L. Wolfgang II
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Saturday, August 19, 2006
Internet Explorer, Standards, and Ministry Web Sites
I am re-working an include for one of the ministries for which I am the volunteer web servant. The include handles the menu for the site, and I am trying to include a search box on the menu (on may not be the right word). What I am trying to do looks pretty good in Firefox at high resolution, gets bad at low resolution (800 x 600 and below), and really stinks in Internet Explorer, period. The code is valid XHTML 1.0 Transitional with valid CSS.
Therefore, my dilemma is: is it right for a ministry web site to change their browser if their browser doesn't play well with others, errr, support standards? I know there are secular sites that have told people that their experience may be degraded in Internet Explorer and that they should upgrade their browser. However, we're a ministry, and I am not sure we should be pushing products, free or not. (I just wrote that sentence, and I realized about two shakes after I wrote it that ministries do push products: books, music, conferences, etc.; but this seems different because which browser you use has no impact on your spiritual life, does it?)
Please leave your thoughts in the comments section as I continue to work (for a bit), sleep, and think and pray about this issue.
These comments may be deleted by Jack or the comment author at their discretion.
By
Jack, at
23 August, 2006 00:42:
I cross-posted this post to some sites on technology and web design. I am cross-posting a response I got on one of the forums back here. This response set me straight on this issue, and I just wanted to say thanks TJ!
By
Anonymous, at
23 August, 2006 00:43:
I think that you should strive for your code to be more accessible. Take the time to make it work cross-browser. You are trying to reach people. You don't want to put a barrier between your content and the people.
By
Anonymous, at
29 August, 2006 13:13:
While better design can be implemented for a specific browser, it's still best to build a website that works on different browsers and different OSes to serve the largest possible audience. I'm still surprised by websites built in Flash, which are not search-engine friendly, and while very cool visually, not user- nor browser- friendly either.
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