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I just get a blank, white page. I would expect a 21st century design to perhaps have a fallback in case JS is turned off, or even a simple "please turn on Javas

I just get a blank, white page. I would expect a 21st century design to perhaps have a fallback in case JS is turned off, or even a simple "please turn on Javascript" message. Edit: Since I'm getting downvoted, I'll say this: I've always maintained that sites need to gracefully handle the absence of javascript. In the past, (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1788856 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1788856), people have correctly pointed out that not all startups have enough time and money to burn on handling a few percent of the population that keep their JS off. But I still think a huge site like MapQuest needs to be able to gracefully degrade, ESPECIALLY if it wants to compete with Google and Bing maps.

bartl 16y ago
I agree with you. I use NoScript, I don't use Javascript on a site I've never visited before. And MapQuest just showed... nothing. As if it was a horrible server error (some PHP sites show a blank page when the PHP goes tits up). If I wasn't interested to see what they were doing, I would have been gone by now. This is a horrible introduction to people who accidentally stumble onto the site.
- owyn 16y ago
  No offense, but it's not a demographic worth catering to. It's not a malware site, it's mapquest. Anyone who accidentally stumbles onto the site will have javascript turned on.