Marginal browser support by the BBC (and why the BBC they can't use jQuery)
bbc-glow, javascript, jquery
Solution
The BBC's primary duty is not to make money, instead, it is to serve the license-payer. In order to reach the widest possible audience, they have to support those older browsers. There's a large number of people in this world who couldn't be bothered—or don't even know how—to upgrade their web browsers from IE 5.old or whatever they're using now. The BBC can't just say "well too bad for you" to these people, even though private broadcasters can.
(Disclaimer: I'm from the US so this is mostly conjecture based on what I've learned about the BBC from other sources, e.g. Wikipedia. Please correct me in the comments if I'm wrong, or downvote me mercilessly. Either works.)
Problem
The BBC just released their JavaScript library, Glow. They rolled their own because the major libraries don't adequately support older browsers. I'm wondering if I should take the time to learn the library. Do other large institutions have similar laws and rules regulating them that prevent them from using the mainstream libraries such as jQuery?