Text "Search" Appears in search box in Firefox but not Internet Explorer

Now that I think about it I recall the search bar was one of the areas we changed in the child, I think to reduce the size. I guess it won’t hurt to put the code in here. Let me know if you see anything that you think could be causing this or if this is the wrong section of code.

/* Search Form */
#branding #searchform {
	position: absolute;
	top: 3.8em;
	right: 3.6%;
	text-align: right;
}
#branding #searchform div {
	margin: 0;
}
#branding #s {
	float: right;
	-webkit-transition-duration: 400ms;
	-webkit-transition-property: width, background;
	-webkit-transition-timing-function: ease;
	-moz-transition-duration: 400ms;
	-moz-transition-property: width, background;
	-moz-transition-timing-function: ease;
	-o-transition-duration: 400ms;
	-o-transition-property: width, background;
	-o-transition-timing-function: ease;
	width: 72px;
}
#branding #s:focus {
	background-color: #f9f9f9;
	width: 196px;
}
#branding #searchsubmit {
	display: none;
}
#branding .only-search #searchform {
	top: 5px;
	z-index: 1;
}
#branding .only-search #s {
	background-color: #666;
	border-color: #000;
	color: #222;
}
#branding .only-search #s,
#branding .only-search #s:focus {
	width: 85%;
}
#branding .only-search #s:focus {
	background-color: #bbb;
}
#branding .with-image #searchform {
	top: auto;
	bottom: -27px;
	max-width: 195px;
}
#branding .only-search + #access div {
	padding-right: 205px;
}

Is there any way to include this text where it will be visible in IE8?

I would be willing to try this but I am not sure what file should be updated.