3 May 2007

A web expert has warned companies that JavaScript could pose a number of complications for a site's accessibility.

Writing on HTML Goodies, Stephen Philbin said that JavaScript in the original document is often inaccessible, leading to problems in a large number of browsers with JavaScript disabled.

"An unlimited number of sites have very serious accessibility problems caused because they didn't account for the large number of users who have JavaScript disabled in their web browsers," he claimed.

The expert added that some web developers will test a site for accessibility in only one browser - with JavaScript enabled - leading to issues in the future.

Problems which can be caused by this include content and navigation menus disappearing altogether from a site, said Mr Philbin.

Kevin Yank, writing for news source SitePoint, recently warned that JavaScript is particularly difficult and controversial when designing sites to be compatible with screen readers, which are used by blind and visually-impaired individuals to navigate web pages.

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