We asked the question "Should browsers still allow users to disable JavaScript?" in the State of the Web Survey we just finished up with, and the results might be surprising.
Nearly forty percent of our lovely community members voted that browsers should no longer allow users to disable JavaScript.
The feelings involved here cannot fully be expressed merely as a binary. What are your thoughts on this subject?
Latest comments (77)
JavaScript should be disabled by default. Browsers should ask users to enable JavaScript, just like locations, notifications, etc.
As long as I can display a
<noscript>to them, why should a browser take an option away? Would be better if it was a per-domain option instead of a global though.Glad they are not in-charge. Browsers need to work towards not needing JS for core web-experiences.
I have to say, I am surprised by the vote.
The user should always have the choice, there are a lot of exploits that abuse javascript and the users have the right to "defend" themselves.
If your site doesn't handle disabled javascript gracefully then it is your fault, not the users.
This discussion is making me glad that I decided to not build my personal website/portfolio as an SPA.
Is there a way to see how many people actually disable JS in their browsers? I am guessing not but would be interested to see stats
Step 1) Browsers collude to force JS on users
Step 2) Somebody makes a new browser
Thank god that #2 is generally still an option.
I would argue that almost all users do not know what JavaScript is, that it can be turned off, how to turn it off, and most of all just don't care.
However, I believe the on/off switch should remain in the browser but relegated to deep configuration or command line flags. It should be viewed in the same prioritisation as disabling CSS, images, video support, etc.
At the end of the day it's most likely going to be developers and technically minded people understanding and wanting to adjust these settings.
There's no reason to disable this feature.
The main reason devs seem to want this is so they can build cool stuff. It's like, hay I spent hours building this cool thing and you're not going to look at it? WTF!
If we can agree that the primary goal of web development is to create synergy between business needs and user needs, something like that. Then we can say as project value deliverability and user accessibility diverge, there is diminishing value. Diminishing value for the user to the business, and the business to the user.
If the needs of a project requires JavaScript but the user, for what ever reason needs it disabled, does it matter? Is this user "important" to the business? Does this business have any actionable value to the user?
It's the job of developers to bridge the business <-> user dived as much as possible. While maximising the business needs "first".
If this principle leads development, those who need find value will find value.
Yes, it's website js code but it runs on the browser, so my computer my rules.
For anybody in the camp that thinks users shouldn't be able to disable JS, load up any news article from any news site in a browser with no extensions enabled & try the page both with & without JS enabled. Which would you rather use? I'll take the lightweight content without heaps of ad, popup & video scripts served up from JS any day.
The internet is both better with and without JS, and the user should be the one to determine if they want to run it or not on a case by case basis. As a developer you can decide what restrictions you want to place on the end user for the intended experience. If you want your site to not function without JS, that's fine, not optimal, but fine.
What I think mobile browser developers should do is surface a toggle to turn off JS more readily on a site by site or global basis rather than have it buried in the settings. That could make mobile browsing significantly better.
I think user should be enabled to disable javascript.
But they should know the website's features will only works as-is.
As developers we have fallen into the trap of using too much JavaScript. Always think about the fallback first and keep your pages lean.
The feelings can absolutely expressed as binary. Because you asked the people that make the sites. Not the users :D
It's pretty binary: nearly forty percent of our lovely community members are wrong. If you can't control what runs on your computer, you're no longer a user -- you're being used.