Does anyone disable Javascript nowadays?

[TumbleN]

As a web-designer I'm always working with accessibility in mind, trying to design for the lowest common denominator.

For awhile, javascript was an annoyance to most users, but today its a critical component to many sites.

Since this is a crowd that isn't strictly techy (like the others I hang around) I'm curious how many of you disable javascript and why.

Thanks!

-Nicky

[mark7]

i do, but for reasons of my own lol, i usually run through the TOR network and also spoof my mac address with smac, well thats not entirely true lol, i tend to browse normally using opera, and when i want to disapere i use firefox with the stuff above and also noscript too.
not your average surfer

[btwendel]

A lot of people disable scripts out of security reasons. This is one of the most popular add-ons for Firefox: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/722

It gives you the ability to pick which sites you trust and allow scripts there only. It did not work for me though, too many sites I visit use Javascript, but many do disable scripts.

[WanderingOak]

Back in the '90s when I was using an older computer with limited power, RAM, etc., I did disable javascript, mainly because my computer worked a lot faster without it. My work computer is completely locked down with only IE, and no Flash installed. Many sites that I have tried to visit with that computer cause IE to crash (my local NPR station, for example), so I don't go there. Since the machine is so locked down, I don't even think I can open IE preferences to determine if javascript is on or off...

[mark7]

i used to have that problem at college, system locked down, and no admin rights granted to users,
but i got round it by instaling portable apps on a flashdrive and using that on the college comps.

its also good for on your home pc if you dont want to leave any nasty incriminating evidence on your pc, as everything is run from the flashdrive as though it was a seperate hard drive, not that i get upto anything dodgy lol

Mozilla Firefox, Portable Edition | PortableApps.com - Portable software for USB drives

[Brutha]

its also good for on your home pc if you dont want to leave any nasty incriminating evidence on your pc, as everything is run from the flashdrive as though it was a seperate hard drive, not that i get upto anything dodgy lol

You still have the flashdrive that can become compromised. Flash has the nasty attribute that you can't safely delete stuff.

[sbdiane]

Some people do disable javascript. At the last company I worked for, everything had to work with javascript disabled. I guess they had enough prospects that turned it off to lose enough business to worry about it. However, before I left the company, they were talking about doing away with designing for the javascript disabled. They felt that since the product itself required javascript that it was silly to allow people to sign up for the product without it. It was like we were providing an inconsistent message. They did want to make it very clear during the sign-up process that javascript would be required, though, so as not to cause people to have an unfavorable experience. I would suggest that if you are deciding you don't want to deal with the javascript disabled people that you still practice graceful degradation and make it clear when javascript is absolutely required.

[mark7]

Originally Posted by Brutha

You still have the flashdrive that can become compromised. Flash has the nasty attribute that you can't safely delete stuff.

not when you have a small microwave oven under your desk lol, 10 seconds inside that and nothing can be recovered, ultraviolet lamps do the same to chips but take longer.

bet ya all wondering what im into now ha ha ha
well its nothing much , unless your name is bill gates

microwaves have the tendency to render hard drives and flash memory, trashed with a capital T, and due to the ambient radiation also tends to trash anything its plugged into, in an attempt to recover any data.
£5.00 second hand, who says safety comes at a premium

This is waaaay off topic! sorry.

[mark7]

anything you build run it through w3c and disable javascript compatability in the options, if ya want it to be fully futureproof, leave everything checked and it will tell ya if ya code is cool, but you already know this yes ???, as it runs checks through win 95 to vista.

[ragtag]

I believe a lot of mobile devices (such as Opera on mobiles) don't run JavaScripts properly, if at all. So if you want mobile users to use your site, then make sure your site runs without JavaScripts too.

I only turn off JavaScript when testing if the site I'm working on works without it.