Is it worth it to code different functionality for users with javascript disabled?

Question

I\'m currently building a project and I would like to make use of some simple javascript - I know some people have it disabled to prevent XSS and other things. Should I...

Answer 1

For a standard web site that is primarily intended for conveying information, degrade gracefully always.

For web applications:

When building a web application for a standard internet audience, I would keep the three following facts in mind:

1. 95%-97% of potential users will have JavaScript enabled.
2. At times established users will need to access functionality when JavaScript is not available.
3. 3%-5% of potential users will have JavaScript intentionally disabled.

Given fact one, if you believe that building a JavaScript reliant web application will deliver a superior user experience, then by all means do it. Doing so may help you accumulate users.

However, given fact two, you should always provide a means by which your users can access core functionality without JavaScript. Do you need to offer every single feature? Probably not. But a user should be able to get his or her work done. This will keep your users happy when they find themselves temporarily without JavaScript.

Given fact three, I would also provide an in depth tour as an attempt to entice these users to enable JavaScript.

As an aside, one of my most favorite web applications, Remember The Milk follows this approach. Also, Google's Calendar application is unusable without JavaScript. So JavaScript reliant web apps are on the rise and that trend is probably unstoppable. In my opinion this is a good thing.

(Do keep in mind that JavaScript make Accessbility a bigger problem than it is already. Please do make an effort to make your apps usable by those with disabilities.)