A piggy bank of commands, fixes, succinct reviews, some mini articles and technical opinions from a (mostly) Perl developer.

Why not to require javascript

Reasons not to require javascript for critical features of your website:
  • It can slow down the user experience.
  • Standard HTML form and browser controls are the way they are for a reason: They work. Subvert or reinvent them at your peril.
  • It's much more likely Javascript code won't work as expected in all browsers, than HTML.
  • When some part of it breaks, forcing the user to disable it, they won't be able to use the rest of the website
  • Not all browsers have javascript, for example Lynx (text only) and JAWS (i.e. screen readers which blind people use).
  • It often makes automated testing harder
  • When the user gets logged out due to inactivity, the AJAX calls may behave unexpectedly

Disclaimer: This is my opinion only, based on personal experience.