So what's the deal with JavaScript?
- Why is it such a hindrance to accessibility?
- It's 2004 - all user agents support JavaScript, so why do we worry about people not using it?
- Is this checkpoint zealousness or is there a real accessibility issue here?
Outcome
- To raise awareness how JavaScript sometimes interferes with the basic working of a HTML document.
- To be able to recognise the common faults when utilising JavaScript.
Who does this affect?
- Not all user agents support it. text-only browsers such as Lynx, for instance, or some alternative browsers such as those in mobile phones/PDAs.
- Some users disable client-side scripting even in user agents that support it, for security reasons. Organisations using Internet Explorer sometimes disable it for all clients. Statistics from W3 Schools indicate that about 10% of their visitors are unable to execute JavaScript. Another recent survey by Sitepoint indicated 49% of users did not see their pop-up window.
WAI guidelines:
- 6.3 Ensure that pages are usable when scripts, applets, or other programmatic objects are turned off or not supported. If this is not possible, provide equivalent information on an alternative accessible page. [NGfL requirement]
- 10.1 Until user agents allow users to turn off spawned windows, do not cause pop-ups or other windows to appear and do not change the current window without informing the user. [NGfL warning]