Live data from Hacker News

Using the Web for a Day with JavaScript Turned Off

smashingmagazine.com

121–130 of 180 posts

Re: Using the Web for a Day with JavaScript Turned Off

#121
post #13

I like that he offers solutions but honestly, more people are vision impaired than have javascript disabled so instead of doing all that work instead put it first on helping people with disabilities. > There is a danger that more and more sites will require JavaScript to render any content at all. What danger, exactly? While some sites that don't require a lot of js is nice you will soon notice that many sites you wa…

> I personally think that WebAssembly is the future so the web will finally just be another compilation target and I can't wait for it to be wide spread. Hmmm, I'm not sure about that. I've only done toy projects with WebAssembly, so I could easily be missing something, but it seems to be: 1) Overkill for most websites 2) Significantly more complicated than current web development - which is saying something given th…

Maybe it's overkill, but hardly anymore than the V8 engine is for most websites. Compilation to WebAssembly will be at zero or little cost to the developer, so it shouldn't matter either way.

Re: Using the Web for a Day with JavaScript Turned Off

#122

I'm glad he can code his brochureware site with minimal impact when JS is disabled. It is 2018 and every site is driven by JS, not just DOM events. If you disable JS, you know what you're getting into. Do we need to develop for those that decide to block CSS? Insist on deprecated browsers? You develop for your audience.

What do you mean, " Do we need to develop for those that decide to block CSS"? Surely, you write semantic, standards compliant html and thus your site works just fine without css? If it does not, have you ever heard of accessibility? If that's no argument for you to do it right, search engines also like clean, structured html. Of course, it also helps with the javascript integration. ;-)

Re: Using the Web for a Day with JavaScript Turned Off

#123
post #111
post #39

Oh my lord, this article is non-sense. Had you gone to a website and had not been able to read anything I would say... good point. But you went to a Wordpress admin to prove your point. Lord have mercy... you're really going to hate your experience once WP switches to a JS based editor. Quick, let's try using Facebook and other apps built on JS frameworks and complain about the functionality not working. Let's try se…

I know a guy who built a single-page web app for a blog. Really. It takes a few seconds to load the post titles, it'll make your computer grind to a halt if you have more than two tabs of it open, it took months to write, and it doesn't do anything you couldn't do with plain HTML and some AJAX request handlers... but Brawndo has electrolytes! I bet it looks pretty good on his resume.

I know a guy that made a model ship in his spare time. It doesn't carry any passengers or cargo, doesn't meet even the most basic safety standards, and frankly doesn't do anything you couldn't do with a canoe.

I bet it looks pretty good on his mantelpiece.

There comes a point where you have to ask yourself - does it matter that he built (what I assume is a personal) blog in framework du jour, simply he just wanted to?

Re: Using the Web for a Day with JavaScript Turned Off

#124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like a potentially sane organisation. Care to mention them?.

Not really. I'm still "the new guy" and I'm not sure how they'd feel about me outing it. Though the consultants keep talking about submitting the site for some kind of award. So maybe you'll see it eventually.

Understood, thanks.

Maybe throw this in the pot: There are those of us who care about such things, and honest signalling counts for something.

Re: Using the Web for a Day with JavaScript Turned Off

#125
post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

English obviously. It is quite far fetched, but I'm just tired of seeing countless hours wasted because the numbers aren't localized properly or RTL breaks layout. It's superfluous, people should have their native tongue and should learn English as means of international communication. Also imagine encoding problems which are also great PITA going away with ascii-only technologies.

Do you speak one language only? Even one additional language would change your perspective here. You won't be able to translate all that properly into one language. A people's language is a window into their culture and their being. Each language (and even dialect) have their own insightful and delightful quirks. I could only lamely elaborate here on own experience.

> Each language (and even dialect) have their own insightful and delightful quirks.

Sure. But you won't be able to enjoy it on a random website. Most of the time the translation quality is mediocre.

Re: Using the Web for a Day with JavaScript Turned Off

#126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly wouldn't bother with forms failing over. That sounds like double the work to support a few people. If you want to participate, enable JS, otherwise view the site as read only.

Not sure if I follow? For a form submission, you'd set it up like a normal HTML form. The would do it's regular thing. If Javascript is enabled, then you'd hijack the button with event.preventDefault and do your AJAX.

If I'm client side, as well as server side checking inputs with JSON responses, there is going to be overlapping of work. Particularly annoying when carrying over field/errors across submit pages. Old school submit, check, refresh, show errors, is an ugly experience for end users.

Of course it can be done, not something I'm going to worry about as a solo operating and developing multiple ventures.

Re: Using the Web for a Day with JavaScript Turned Off

#127
"I Used The Web For A Day With Javascript Turned Off."

I Used the Web For A Decade With Javascript Turned Off.

I have been using the Web for over a decade via software that has no Javascript capabilities.

There is a conception one can detect in this article that there is only one "working" look for any website: the look that the designer intended.

However IME many websites "work" without ever engaging the "look" the designer intended. To discuss this, one needs to first specifically define what it means for a website to "work". I am not sure agreement can be reached on that issue.

It may be that the definition of "work" varies with each user. Different users may want different experiences. I know what I want from websites: data. I am less concerned with design. This may not be the case for another user.

The author cites Amazon as an example website.

When I am only browsing Amazon I do not use a "modern" web browser nor Javascript. Without a browser nor Javascript I can download product data in bulk, convert it to CSV and import it into kdb+ for easier searching and viewing. Without a browser nor Javascript I can download images of interesting products and embed them into a simple PDF for offline viewing, using pdflib.

When I am ready to purchase, then I might move to a "modern" browser with Javascript-enabled.

Other example websites he gives are Wordpress, Github, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. I read the content of all these sites without ever using a "modern" browser nor Javascript. If I want to view images or video, I can download them as in the above case of Amazon. I may choose to view the data in whatever application I choose on whatever computer I choose on the local network, and the computer need not be connected to the internet.

For this user, these websites "work" just fine without Javascript. I can always use a "modern" browser with Javascript if I want to see what the designer intended. However this is rarely necessary for the experience I seek.

Re: Using the Web for a Day with JavaScript Turned Off

#128
post #3

Install uBlock Origin and do it every day! I block all JavaScript, then re enable it when needed to fix a site. Often I just need to enable 1st party scripts in the uBlock Origin grid to fix it. Make sure you enable advanced mode to see the grid.

My approach on iOS: install an “everyday” adblocker, and a secondary one that supports custom rulesets (I use refine). Then, tell the secondary to block all images + javascript (I downloaded the “block javascript images and css” filter, then toggled the css rule).

Next, long press the reader view button in safari’s url bar, and turn it on for all sites.

Finally, since Apple doesn’t support high contrast black backgrounds in reader view, go into accessibility, turn on the three clicks to bring up accessibility shortcuts option, and add “classic invert” to it.

As a bonus for reading this far, also add “magnifier” to it, which lets you use your rear facing camera in a surprisingly good magnifying mode that should be part of the default camera app.

Re: Using the Web for a Day with JavaScript Turned Off

#129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure if I follow? For a form submission, you'd set it up like a normal HTML form. The would do it's regular thing. If Javascript is enabled, then you'd hijack the button with event.preventDefault and do your AJAX.

If I'm client side, as well as server side checking inputs with JSON responses, there is going to be overlapping of work. Particularly annoying when carrying over field/errors across submit pages. Old school submit, check, refresh, show errors, is an ugly experience for end users. Of course it can be done, not something I'm going to worry about as a solo operating and developing multiple ventures.

Sure, it requires some careful planning. You'd set up the html form with method="post". Then have the AJAX send the request with its content type as "application/x-www-form-urlencoded". At least with Node Express, that will have the requests handled the same.

Re: Using the Web for a Day with JavaScript Turned Off

#130
post #107

Somebody should create a list of JS free sites. They can sell it at Whole Foods in the "medicine" aisle. You guys know what I'm talking about; "JS Free -All Natural!". I think we've about reached the point of ideology on this. If you are considering arguing with the other side your probably better off arguing evolution with a creationist, or facts with the GOP.

What a tremendously rude comment. I can't believe you need so many hundreds of karma points to downvote what is clearly a non-contribution.
Post reply on HN