[Sigia-l] Re: "Who Really Turns Off JavaScript?"

[jacco at nieuwland.net]

Hi all,

I have been following this thread with interest, surprise and a few other
emotions that we will not dwell upon :-)

One interesting point that was mentioned somewhere in the discussion, but never
got thouroughly was the one about screenreaders and accessibility. What is the
current state of screenreaders, and how do they handle javascript and
Ajax-based websites?

For me, screenreaders have been the reason to steer away from implementing
javascript-based functionality so far. It was always a requirement from the
client (government agencies) that the web apps should be accessible to the
visually impaired with the same(!) functionality as for the other users. Some
functionality (print buttons calling the browser print function, with a
/noscript/ explanatory text were allowed, but that was it.

If that is the brief, are we still stuck with using little or no javascript, or
are screenreaders capable of dealing with javascript functionality and dynamic
content?

Jacco