Study: Firefox restricted by incompatible Web sites

By Matthew Broersma

January 12, 2006 12:00 PM ET

TechWorld.com - Firefox may have ended 2005 with nearly 10% of total browser market share, but new users are in for a nasty shock, according to recent research, which claims that one in 10 Web sites don't allow full access to Firefox users.

The research, from U.K. site testing firm SciVisum Ltd., was based on tests of 100 leading U.K. consumer Web sites. The firm found that 3% turned away users of browsers other than Microsoft Internet Explorer, while another 7% used code that could be rendered only in Internet Explorer.

Examples of sites turning away non-Internet Explorer users included those of Odeon Cinemas Ltd. and Jobcentreplus.gov. Sites using Internet Explorer-only code included those of British American Tobacco PLC and Lloyds TSB Group PLC's insurance site. The company noted that some companies changed their policies after the survey was carried out.

"Surprisingly, after all these years, users of standards-compliant browsers are still faced with sites that do not support their browser or with a link suggesting they download Internet Explorer, a browser they had presumably chosen not to use," SciVisum Chief Executive Deri Jones said in a statement.

The company recommended that site developers to code to Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) standards, which allow developers to separate content from presentation.

It isn't all bad news for alternative browser users -- SciVisum said a number of sites had done remarkable turnarounds over 2005, including those of PowerHouse Ltd., which formerly blocked Firefox users, and English Heritage, which originally forced Firefox users to a nongraphical version of the site.

Firefox went from 4.64% of the browser market at the beginning of 2005 to just shy of 10% by the end of the year, according to NetApplications.com. Over the same period, Internet Explorer fell from 90.31% to 85.05%.

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