55:39 -0800, David Mark wrote:
<eyeroll> But, amuse me and tell me how to do that.
You can't. But if a user has at least enough sophistication to go
into their browser preferences and disable javascript then they
should be aware and accepting of the consequences of doing so.
Of course, some users have it disabled for them by network admins.
Others use agents that do not support script. It makes no sense
to post pages on the public Internet that break when scripting is
disabled or unavailable.
Sure it does. Pages that include javascript require javascript to be
enabled, pages that use java require java, pages that use flash
require flash, you can't run Mac software under Windows and your car
requires the
You don't understand.
I assure you I do.
[snip]
As I said, pages should not break when scripting is disabled. Same
for Flash, Java, etc.
If you want to take the time that's certainly up to you.
You should get into the habit of writing pages without considering
script, Flash or Java. That way users without such amenities (and
search engines) can see all of the content. Only then should you add
enhancements, taking care that each degrades gracefully.
I always have been. I was a major proponent of cross-browser and backward
compatibility in everything I wrote... my experience in the industry has
changed that since employers have been much less concerned about it than I
would ever want them to be.
Then you should educate them as they probably hired you for your
expertise rather than agreeability. For instance, an employer that
wants an e-commerce site probably wants it to generate as many sales
as possible. To this end, they likely want all of their product pages
to be indexed by search engines and usable by people who cannot
utilize scripting, popup windows, Flash, etc. Far too often I see
this sort of markup on shopping sites:
<a href="javascript
opup('mycoolflashdetailspage.aspx'); return
false">Click here to view product details</a>
It wouldn't have taken any longer to design these sites properly, so
the only explanation is incompetence (or reticence) on the part of the
owners' resident "experts."
You can't lose a visitor that couldn't use your site in the first place.
Sure you can. You exclude them in the design phase.
Regardless, a page should not appear broken (e.g. the user shouldn't
be presented with links that don't work.) That is incompetent and
will not only exclude certain users, but will give them the impression
that the site is defective.
If a page is 100% reliant on scripting, then the only fallback is to
present a message indicating that fact (e.g. This page requires
scripting.)
