How to workaround: IE6 does not support CSS "attribute" selectors

Question

One of the projects which I am working uses CSS "attribute" selector [att]

CSS Selectors

which is not supported by ie6: Support for CSS selectors in IE6 (look for text "Attribute Selectors")

Is there any workaround/hack which is of course valid html/css to overcome this problem?

Answer 1

Since IE6 is essentially limited to:

• class selectors
• ID selectors
• (space) descendant selectors
• a:-only pseudo-selectors

your only options are:

• Use more classes to identify your elements
• Use JavaScript (strongly not recommended except in highly specialized cases)

I find it very helpful to take advantage of the ability to assign multiple classes to an element by separating them with a space: class="foo bar"

Answer 2

Use classes, that's the only workaround, sadly.

Answer 3

This isn't possible without peppering your HTML with a stack of extraneous class selectors, sadly.

I'd recommend designing your site so that your entirely valid CSS works for people using modern browsers, and that it's still usable in the IE6, albeit visually not quite right. You just have to find the right balance between getting your site up to standard and bending over backwards for users who won't upgrade. It's a broken browser, treat it as such.

Answer 4

Dean Edwards' IE7 JavaScript library provides attribute selector support for IE 5 and 6.

Answer 5

If you want attribute selector in IE6, you can use Dean Edward IE.js. http://dean.edwards.name/IE7/

That will make IE 5+ behave much more like IE7

supports the following CSS selectors: 
parent > child
adjacent + sibling
adjacent ~ sibling
[attr], [attr="value"], [attr~="value"] etc
.multiple.classes (fixes bug)
:hover, :active, :focus (for all elements)
:first-child, :last-child, only-child, nth-child, nth-last-child
:checked, :disabled, :enabled
:empty, :contains(), :not()
:before/:after/content:
:lang()

I didn't have IE6 (use IE7) so i can't said it worked, but give it a try

Answer 6

If you're using jQuery on your site, another option is SuperSelectors - it goes through your site’s stylesheets, dynamically adding classes to elements so that even IE6 can bask in the glow of properly supporting CSS selectors like ul li:first-child li:nth-child(odd) a:hover.

Answer 7

Here is some detailed info about CSS selectors