Accessibility and all these JavaScript frameworks

Question

I\'ve been investigating a few of the JavaScript frameworks such as Backbone.js and Batman.js for a while and whilst I really like them, I have one niggling thing that I kee

Answer 1

Since I'm a visually-impaired user and web developer, I'll chime in here.

These frameworks, in my experience, haven't been a problem provided the appropriate steps are taken with regard to accessibility.

Many screen readers understand JavaScript, and we as developers can improve the experience using things like HTML5's aria-live attribute to alert screen readers that things are changing, and we can use the role attribute to provide additional hints to the screenreaders.

However, the basic principle of web development with JavaScript is that we should develop the underlying site first, without JavaScript, and then use that solid, working, and tested foundation to provide better features. The use of JS should not be required to purchase a product, receive services, or get information. And some users disable JavaScript because it interferes with the way their screenreaders work.

Doing a complete Backbone.js or Knockout site from the ground up without regard for accessibility will result in something akin to "new Twitter" which fails extremely hard with many screenreaders. But Twitter has a solid foundation and so we can use other means to access the platform. Grafting Backbone onto an existing site that has a well-crafted API is quite doable, and an awful lot of fun, too.

So basically, these frameworks themselves are no more of an accessibility issue than jQUery itself - the developer needs to craft a user experience that works for everyone.