
Ask HN: Is there ever an excuse for browser-restricted websites? - PhasmaFelis
Websites (generally some sort of form-filling&#x2F;viewing site) that only work (or <i>claim</i> they only work) with a specific browser(s), specific browser versions, specific OSes, etc. Usually this is Internet Explorer or at least includes it.<p>Is there ever a good reason or excuse for this? I&#x27;ve only ever seen it in government&#x2F;university&#x2F;internal-company sites that (a) don&#x27;t have a lot of development budget and (b) have a captive audience. Generally quality is pretty low as well. Is there actually a solid security advantage or something to e.g. only supporting IE7-10 on Windows XP, Vista, or 7?<p>(That last is an actual example of a &quot;training program&quot; site my current contracting agency is making me run through. I&#x27;m thinking of sending them a polite but stern email regarding the standards one expects in a company whose entire job is contracting coders and web designers.)
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minimaxir
It's not a security advantage, it's a QA advantage: restricting browsers
ensures that the website works as expected, which is extremely valuable to
government/university/internal-companies which can't develop/QA for other
browsers due to finite capital/time.

