A few months ago, at the Web Directions conference in Denver, Colorado, I was enlightened by a new school of thought that is slowly spreading through the world of web design as part of an ongoing battle against web browsing technologies. The idea is called ‘Progressive Enhancement and Intentional Degradation‘ and was discussed specifically in a seminar by web design expert Elliot Jay Stocks, which in turn really became an overall theme for the conference itself. Although the idea is nothing new and has been applied to many types of advancement theories, I think it is an important idea that needs to be shared with everyone from colleagues to clients and more.
What does this concept mean in terms of the web? Well, in simple terms it puts the power of design back into the web designer’s hands and says ‘enough is enough’ with this all-consuming, never-fulfilling idea of designing for every browser ever made since the first consumer PC was sold. Essentially it tosses aside the unrealistic idea that you must ensure that the site you produce looks exactly the same in every browser, all the time.
Progressive Enhancement & Intentional Degradation rewards users of modern browsers that are able to view all of the latest CSS features such as font embedding, border radius and transparency, and punishes users of out of date browsers (for example, Internet Explorer 6) by dropping certain site features that simply can’t be displayed by them. In essence, what this idea does is truly release the designer from the browser’s captivity when it comes to design, freeing him/her to work with the latest technologies in mind, and puts the power of choice back into the users mind when it comes to how rich they want their internet experience to be.
As proof that this idea can become an absolute reality, one just needs to look at all the options that exist in the realm of television. You have the choice to keep your overweight picture tube TV, hooked up to the basic cable package, however, if you want a truly engaging viewing experience, you’ll eventually find yourself owning a 1080p HD LCD or plasma panel with an array of high definition channels feeding into it. Now compare that transition to a free browser upgrade and you start to understand why the ‘enough is enough’ mentality designers have started to adapt is so relevant in today’s online world.
From my perspective, I think this concept is fascinating and consider it critical for true advancement in web design. The idea pushes for the progress of browser development to match the progress of design advancement, telling users and browser developers alike to either keep up or miss out on a better experience. Surely this idea is loathed by IT departments everywhere, but hey, without change, none of those departments would exist anyway.
Let me show you a few examples of this idea in play. View each site listed below in both the latest version of Firefox or Safari, and then Internet Explorer 6, 7 or 8. Note the inherent differences in the visual aspects of these sites and how the overall experience differs between each browser.
http://www.24ways.org
http://www.westciv.com/
http://theundersigned.net/
In conclusion, for users of older browsers, such as IE6, we’re not completely flipping the bird to them, we’re just saying ‘here’s your experience now, but here’s what it can be when using a newer browser,’ Even this site has small design intricacies that can only be displayed in browsers such as Firefox and Safari. On the other hand, if you’re viewing the site in Internet Explorer, the fact that border corners aren’t rounded isn’t going to cause you to regurgitate your lunch. However, over the coming months and years that list of intricacies will continue to expand further; all work to enhance the user experience within modern browsers that embrace new web design tactics, and thankfully helping push older browsers into complete extinction.
At least your old browser is easier to dispose of than that old picture tube. To upgrade your browser, please visit either of the links below:
Wes Straub
Creative Lead