diff --git a/lms/static/sass/base/_base.scss b/lms/static/sass/base/_base.scss
index ba0f47de52..e09c1a0b53 100644
--- a/lms/static/sass/base/_base.scss
+++ b/lms/static/sass/base/_base.scss
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
-html, body {
+hktml, body {
   background: rgb(250,250,250);
   font-family: $sans-serif;
   font-size: 1em;
+  font-style: normal;
   line-height: 1em;
   //-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;
 }
diff --git a/lms/static/sass/ie.scss b/lms/static/sass/ie.scss
index 35997d95a7..a22d3935fd 100644
--- a/lms/static/sass/ie.scss
+++ b/lms/static/sass/ie.scss
@@ -130,6 +130,13 @@ header.global {
   background: #000;
 }
 
-.modal .inner-wrapper form label {
-  display: block;
+nav.course-material ol.course-tabs li a.active, nav.course-material .xmodule_SequenceModule nav.sequence-nav ol.course-tabs li a.seq_video.active, .xmodule_SequenceModule nav.sequence-nav nav.course-material ol.course-tabs li a.seq_video.active {
+  background-color: #333;
+  background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, .4);
 }
+
+header.global ol.user > li.primary a.dropdown {
+  padding-top: 6px;
+  padding-bottom: 6px;
+}
+
diff --git a/lms/static/sass/shared/_footer.scss b/lms/static/sass/shared/_footer.scss
index d182ed4316..a418b887ad 100644
--- a/lms/static/sass/shared/_footer.scss
+++ b/lms/static/sass/shared/_footer.scss
@@ -110,6 +110,7 @@ footer {
           padding: 0;
 
           a {
+            @include inline-block;
             opacity: 0.3;
             @include transition(all, 0.1s, linear);
 
diff --git a/lms/templates/login_modal.html b/lms/templates/login_modal.html
index 8652f457e6..d7d327178c 100644
--- a/lms/templates/login_modal.html
+++ b/lms/templates/login_modal.html
@@ -10,9 +10,9 @@
 
     <form id="login_form" class="login_form" method="post" data-remote="true" action="/login">
       <label>E-mail</label>
-      <input name="email" type="email" placeholder="E-mail">
+      <input name="email" type="email">
       <label>Password</label>
-      <input name="password" type="password" placeholder="Password">
+      <input name="password" type="password">
       <label class="remember-me">
         <input name="remember" type="checkbox" value="true">
         Remember me
diff --git a/lms/templates/main.html b/lms/templates/main.html
index 51b8d6030e..dd44ebb1f3 100644
--- a/lms/templates/main.html
+++ b/lms/templates/main.html
@@ -8,9 +8,6 @@
 
   <%static:css group='application'/>
 
-  <!--[if lte IE 9]>
-  <%static:css group='ie-fixes'/>
-  <![endif]-->
   <%static:js group='main_vendor'/>
   <%block name="headextra"/>
 
@@ -19,6 +16,9 @@
   <script src="${static.url('js/html5shiv.js')}"></script>
   <![endif]-->
 
+  <!--[if lte IE 9]>
+  <%static:css group='ie-fixes'/>
+  <![endif]-->
   <meta name="path_prefix" content="${MITX_ROOT_URL}">
 </head>
 
diff --git a/lms/templates/main_django.html b/lms/templates/main_django.html
index d300e666a9..0e2673258b 100644
--- a/lms/templates/main_django.html
+++ b/lms/templates/main_django.html
@@ -12,6 +12,13 @@
   {% render_block "css" %}
   
   <meta name="path_prefix" content="{{MITX_ROOT_URL}}">
+  <!--[if lt IE 9]>
+  <script src="{% static "js/html5shiv.js" %}"></script>
+  <![endif]-->
+
+  <!--[if lte IE 9]>
+  <link href="{% static "sass/ie.css" %}" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />
+  <![endif]-->
 </head>
 
 
@@ -40,4 +47,4 @@
   Inheriting from this file allows us to include apps that use the
   django templating system without rewriting all of their views in
   mako. 
-{% endcomment %}
\ No newline at end of file
+{% endcomment %}
diff --git a/lms/templates/signup_modal.html b/lms/templates/signup_modal.html
index 1510eb407b..96b2e33ac3 100644
--- a/lms/templates/signup_modal.html
+++ b/lms/templates/signup_modal.html
@@ -21,18 +21,18 @@
         <div class="input-group">
 	  % if has_extauth_info is UNDEFINED:
           <label data-field="email">E-mail*</label>
-          <input name="email" type="email" placeholder="E-mail*">
+          <input name="email" type="email" placeholder="eg. example@edx.org">
           <label data-field="password">Password*</label>
-          <input name="password" type="password" placeholder="Password*">
+          <input name="password" type="password" placeholder="****">
           <label data-field="username">Public Username*</label>
-          <input name="username" type="text" placeholder="Public Username*">
+          <input name="username" type="text" placeholder="Shown on forms">
           <label data-field="name">Full Name</label>
-          <input name="name" type="text" placeholder="Full Name*">
+          <input name="name" type="text" placeholder="For your certificate">
 	  % else:
 	  <p><i>Welcome</i> ${extauth_email}</p><br/>
 	  <p><i>Enter a public username:</i></p>
           <label data-field="username">Public Username*</label>
-          <input name="username" type="text" value="${extauth_username}" placeholder="Public Username*">
+          <input name="username" type="text" value="${extauth_username}" placeholder="Shown on forums">
 	  % endif
         </div>
 
@@ -75,9 +75,9 @@
           </section>
 
           <label data-field="mailing_address">Mailing address</label>
-          <textarea name="mailing_address" placeholder="Mailing address"></textarea>
+          <textarea name="mailing_address"></textarea>
           <label data-field="goals">Goals in signing up for edX</label>
-          <textarea name="goals" placeholder="Goals in signing up for edX"></textarea>
+          <textarea name="goals"></textarea>
 
         </div>