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This is not just a question of population size. It would be if the decision to browse without JavaScript was an arbitrary choice, and if designing website relyi
by romaniv 15y ago
This is not just a question of population size. It would be if the decision to browse without JavaScript was an arbitrary choice, and if designing website relying on JavaScript resulted in better overall design. Neither are the case.
Very often websites that don't work without JavaScript have serious design/privacy issues, which better be fixed even if no one disabled scripts. Very often the reason those websites require scripts is because the developers working on them are incapable to conceptualize desired business logic using some simple mental model, so they just throw random code and libraries at the issue until it seems solved.
Saying that "it's an app" is a common, but very weak excuse. Most websites are not doing anything that would warrant them an app status. They simply use JavaScript to enhance browsing experience. That's perfectly fine, but the inability to isolate those enhancements from code logic that's required to make the website work is indicative of the problem that I described above.
- marcusf 15y agoAgreed. Something like a landing page requiring javascript in the first place certainly is bad form. For my comment, I assumed it as a given. I'm not sure how much time I should spend honing my <noscript> tags if my page doesn't work without Javascript at all. Seems there's bigger flies to swath.
- nkassis 15y ago"Very often websites that don't work without JavaScript have serious design/privacy issues, which better be fixed even if no one disabled scripts." I'm not sure I understand your logic here. Many sites use javascript for advanced features not possible otherwise. I don't see how not working without javascript equates to privacy issues.
- marcusf 15y agoI think what the poster's implying that a website not working without JS is indicative of an incompetent team, though I might be reading him wrong.
- gambler 15y agoI don't see how not working without javascript equates to privacy issues. Stuff like including Google's JavaScript by linking to Google's servers equates to privacy issues. The fact that some websites don't work (at all, don't even render) without external scripts is a design issue. These issues often come hand-in-hand, but no one said that one equates to the other. Also, if your notion of "advanced features" includes rendering of text and images and working links, you might consider re-thinking it.