Lan Barnes wrote:
And I would miss these because ...?
Because there are good uses for Javascript. Much like the initial horrid abuse of Flash, once people start to figure it out, it becomes a useful tool.
Being able to actually *pan* maps rather than click, blink, move, etc., is a *good* thing. There are lots of studies that show that the small blink is enough to completely discombobulate your eye orientation mechanisms. There are other times when UI's really benefit from a specific, targeted improvement in a particular interaction.
That being said, I am *not* a fan of AJAX-crap in general. The web is the web; a desktop app is a desktop app. They have different interaction metaphors and should be treated differently.
Some Javascript works around browser flaws. Other Javascript does image replacement so that normal users can see pretty pictures but automated users downgrade to text gracefully. Yet other Javascript approximates the CSS fixes which have been standardized but are not yet implemented in all browsers. DOM scripting is actually fairly nice.
I find myself granting Javascript access to certain websites a little more often than I used to. If a site displays pure text and clearly has spaces for useful pictures or navigation but degraded well, I generally give NoScript a punch and let the site have at. They generally had someone who thought enough about the interactions that it will probably make my life more pleasant.
And then there are websites like ESPN. Sigh ... -a -- [email protected] http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-list
