Ajax and 508 Compliance

[otto]

I'd like to develop a small application using Ajax as defined by
Adaptive Path
(http://www.adaptivepath.com/publications/essays/archives/000385.php)
using Javascript, the XMLHttpRequest object, and XML. However, since
I'm working on a government web site, it has to meet 508 standards
(i.e. the content must be accessible to those without Javascript.) Is
this at all possible, or do I have to give up on this technology until
I enter the commercial world and start making real money? Any ideas?

 

[Martin Honnen]

I'd like to develop a small application using Ajax as defined by
Adaptive Path
(http://www.adaptivepath.com/publications/essays/archives/000385.php)
using Javascript, the XMLHttpRequest object, and XML. However, since
I'm working on a government web site, it has to meet 508 standards
(i.e. the content must be accessible to those without Javascript.) Is
this at all possible, or do I have to give up on this technology until
I enter the commercial world and start making real money? Any ideas?

There are certainly uses of what that article tries to christen 'AJAX'
that improve a page or web application while allowing it to be used by
those without JavaScript support, for instance Jim at
<http://jibbering.com/2002/4/httprequest.html> has that example form
<http://jibbering.com/2002/4/add.1> which uses XMLHttpRequest if script
is available but falls back to normal form submission if script is not
available.
Or the Google suggestion/autocompletion can certainly be built (or
hopefully is already built that way) that the search form works with any
browser while the suggestion/autocompletion is an additional feature
improving user experience if script and XMLHttpRequest is available.

 

[otto]

Thanks. That helps. It gives me a place to start.