While I personally use `tput` in scripts where it matters, I think an argument can be made that effectively all terminals now in use support ANSI X3.64 aka ECMA

While I personally use `tput` in scripts where it matters, I think an argument can be made that effectively all terminals now in use support ANSI X3.64 aka ECMA-48 aka ISO/IEC 6429. The 37-year-old VT220 does. The greater sins I see today are assuming line length and assuming background colour.