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Unless I want to build my site to 1996 specs I need to use some JavaScript. I always read that the site should function properly if the user does not have JavaScript (or has it disabled), well, I'm not going to concern myself with those people.
A simple example is this: I want a text link to submit a form, I don't want to use a submit button. I don't know of any way to do that that does not use JavaScript. So what should I do, write a bunch of code that determines if they have JavaScript enabled and if not output a regular button instead? The hell with that.
It's like CSS, if they don't have a modern CSS enabled browser my site won't look right (in fact it will look terrible) but I can't worry about those people, I don't even want them at my site if they are running a computer from 1996.
What do you guys think?
Take care,
Cyrus
Should you use JavaScript to enhance and improve the experience? Of course!
Should your site fail to function or misbehave if JavaScript is not available? No!
There are lots of reasons to use JavaScript, which is why I personally use it quite a bit. But, I always have something to fall back on.
Take the example with the thumbnail, where clicking on it brings up a new window with additional details. That's an excellent example of how JS can be used to control the size of the window, whether certain toolbars should be available, etc. But there's no reason not to have the link open in a new window (using
target="_blank") for those that do not have JS enabled. In fact, this issue is bigger than JavaScript. Who cares if the majority of people have JS enabled or not? The fact that search engines and people with disabilities need non-JS solutions is enough for me. Especially since you don't have to choose between one or the other. Use both, side by side!