We are all quite excited about the new functionalities provided by CSS 3 . But...is it safe to use them already in a full-blown web application?

 

 

Our main concern -  and it should also be yours - is to reach the widest audience possible.  A well known fact is that, especially at the larger companies, users aren’t always that web savvy. Some of them have strict internet rules and sometimes still use older browser versions like IE6. Most of them don’t need to be convinced that there are better tools available. The problem is that the upgrade process is often a large undertaking and costs a lot of money.

And for what cost? A time ago I read this tweet 

 

 

There will always be inconsistencies between browsers and as developers we will always have to adapt.

 

In my humble opinion, I guess we need to start using as many new features as possible, as long as the customer(s) see a fully working result in all browsers. For example, it is perfectly possible to use “border-radius” to create rounded corners. IE users will have a totally different experience without rounded corners, but there is no loss of functionality.

 

In this case it is the task of the developer to inform the user (customer) of the improvement, or at least the differences  he will experience when updating to a full coverage browser version.

 

When the customer is not properly informed he will start asking for more while you, as a developer, spent probably a serious amount of time in beautifully degrading the code in order to present a decent result in all browser versions.

 

This way the design is future-proof and no-one has to give in on functionality. Everybody’s happy.  Note: This is also our approach at TenForce. We do keep in mind though, that the customer is always right!