Often when picking new tools and frameworks I see the warning Will not work if the user has disabled Javascript. I then look at my Javascript powered slideshow, Javascript powered menu, and Javascript powered gallery. Funnily enough, I chose these to replace the original flash based versions since I worried about the number of people that would see them.But is worrying about people disabling Javascript a legitimate worry? Should I try and design my site with JS being disabled in mind?
Should I worry about people disabling Javascript?
javascript;usability;accessibility
That depends on the site, its purpose, and who the demographic is.If you're designing a government website, a banking site, a corporate home page, etc, then you absolutely should make sure the site works without JavaScript. But if you're designing an entertainment/leisure site like Twitter or Facebook, then it's not so bad to require JavaScript. And if your site is a rich internet application that absolutely won't work without client-side scripting (e.g. Meebo), then it's absolutely reasonable to require JavaScript.Most features on a typical website probably shouldn't require JavaScript though. It's fine to center the user experience around clients with JavaScript enabled, but if you're running a forum, you should make sure that users can still post/read messages without JavaScript, even if it means the interface is more basic.