Does PNG 24-bit transparency load in IE8 using :after pseudo-element

Question

My colleague wrote some CSS to position a small PNG of an arrow with a transparent background over an image. However, he applied it to the anchor tag's :after pseudo-element.

This works on all modern browsers except IE8. He claims this was working in IE8, but neither of us can figure out why this no longer works.

HTML

<html>
<head>
<title>IE8 PNG transparency test with :after</title>
</head>
<body>
<div id="channel-feat-lists" class="feat-lists feat-stories is-invisible mod with-border">
<h4>TOP 3 STORIES</h4>
<ul class="tout-stack">
<li id="c1" class="tout">
   <div class="tout-image size-160x165"><a href="#" class="video-link"><img src="http://img4.realsimple.com/images/home-organizing/decorating/0812/boy-tunnel-fort-ictcrop_160.jpg"
              alt="#"
              width="160"
              height="165" /></a></div>
   <h6><a href="#" class="has-number"><span class="tout-title-number">7 </span><span class="tout-title-remainder">Ideas for Kids' Forts</span></a></h6>
   <div class="tout-dek">Want to create a fortress mighty enough to withstand any big bad wolf's huffs and puffs? Get inspired by these seven creations.</div>
   <div class="tout-jump"><a class="jump">SEE MORE FUN VIDEOS</a></div>
</li>
<li id="c2" class="tout">
   <div class="tout-image size-160x165"><a href="#"><img src="http://img4.realsimple.com/images/home-organizing/decorating/0812/boy-tunnel-fort-ictcrop_160.jpg"
              alt="#"
              width="160"
              height="165" /></a></div>
   <h6><a href="#" class="has-number"><span class="tout-title-number">8 </span><span class="tout-title-remainder">Ideas for Kids' Forts</span></a></h6>
   <div class="tout-dek">Want to create a fortress mighty enough to withstand any big bad wolf's huffs and puffs? Get inspired by these seven creations.</div>
   <div class="tout-jump"><a class="jump" href="#">SEE MORE FUN VIDEOS</a></div>
</li>
<li id="c3" class="tout">
   <div class="tout-image size-160x165"><a href="#"><img src="http://img4.realsimple.com/images/home-organizing/decorating/0812/boy-tunnel-fort-ictcrop_160.jpg"
              alt="#"
              width="160"
              height="165" /></a></div>
   <h6 class="has-no-number"><a href="#">Example numberless title</a></h6>
   <div class="tout-dek">Want to create a fortress mighty enough to withstand any big bad wolf's huffs and puffs? Get inspired by these seven creations.</div>
   <div class="tout-jump"><a class="jump" href="#">SEE MORE FUN VIDEOS</a></div>
</li>
<li id="c4" class="tout">
   <div class="tout-image size-160x165"><a href="#"><img src="http://img4.realsimple.com/images/home-organizing/decorating/0812/boy-tunnel-fort-ictcrop_160.jpg"
              alt="#"
              width="160"
              height="165" /></a></div>
   <h6><a href="#" class="has-number"><span class="tout-title-number">8 </span><span class="tout-title-remainder">Ideas for Kids' Forts</span></a></h6>
   <div class="tout-dek">Want to create a fortress mighty enough to withstand any big bad wolf's huffs and puffs? Get inspired by these seven creations.</div>
   <div class="tout-jump"><a class="jump" href="#">SEE MORE FUN VIDEOS</a></div>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</body>
</html>

CSS

.feat-lists .tout { min-height: 165px; margin-top: 14px; }
.feat-lists .tout + .tout { border-top: 1px dotted #7f7f7f; padding-top: 14px; }  
.feat-lists .tout-image { float: left; margin-left: 7px; }
.feat-lists .tout-image a { display: block; position: relative; }
.feat-lists .video-link:after { background: transparent url('http://img4.realsimple.com/static/i/play-overlay.png') 0 0; content: ''; height: 24px; left: 70px; position: absolute; top: 70px; width: 19px; }
.feat-lists h6 { margin-left: 181px; }
.feat-lists h6 a { color: #333333; font: normal 1.8em Georgia, sans-serif; }
.feat-lists h6 a.has-number:hover { text-decoration: none; }
.feat-lists h6 a.has-number:hover .tout-title-remainder { text-decoration: underline; }
.feat-lists .tout-title-number { color: #999999; display: block; font: normal 2.777em Georgia, sans-serif; margin-bottom: -4px; position: relative; top: -6px; } /* 2.777 x 1.8 = 5 = 50px */
.feat-lists .tout-dek { color: #666666; font: normal 1.3em Georgia, sans-serif; margin: 5px 0px 5px 181px; }
.feat-lists .tout-jump { margin-left: 181px; }
.feat-lists h6.has-no-number { padding: 2.5em 0 0 0; }

Here is the JSFiddle version: http://jsfiddle.net/tangst/gByMb/

The first image is supposed to have that overlay.

I've tried some solutions in PNG transparency prоblеm in IE8, but they do not work.

Has anybody encountered this before?

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 24 '13 at 23:48

1

It's not the PNG that is the problem it's IE8's support for :after/:before pseudo elements.

Have a look here for a list of supported browsers: http://css-tricks.com/browser-support-pseudo-elements/

Apparently IE8 has "partial support":

"z-index not respected, must use a doctype, must declare a :hover state if you use :hover:after/:hover:before"

answered Jan 24 '13 at 23:48

rogchap

933
6
8

Thanks for the link. We're not actually using :hover:after in this case. The overlay sits on the link regardless of whether it's being hovered or not. – Stephen Jan 25 '13 at 02:18

Does PNG 24-bit transparency load in IE8 using :after pseudo-element

1 Answers1