js;dr

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js;dr is JavaScript required; Didn’t Read. See also: http://tantek.com/2015/069/t1/js-dr-requires-javascript-dead

Contents 1 Related Articles 2 IndieWeb Examples 3 Dead To History Examples 3.1 Readability 4 Web Content Examples 4.1 Huffington Post 4.2 Pacific Standard 4.3 The Mill 4.4 Open Switch 4.5 Security Trap 4.6 Webwewant Mozilla 4.7 Webmaker 4.8 Other 5 Silo Examples 5.1 Blogspot 5.2 Dropbox file URLs 5.3 Google Photos 6 Web App Examples 6.1 Google Maps 7 The New Flash 7.1 networkeffect io 8 See Also

Related Articles

Articles related to js;dr:

• 2016-11-06 Tantek Çelik js;dr in print!
• 2016-06-08 @Pinboard:

  Do you make grilled cheese with a flamethrower? So why are you using javascript to render a page of text?

• 2016-03-06 Eevee: Maybe we could tone down the JavaScript
• 2015-11-18 WIRED/Klint Finley: I Turned Off JavaScript for a Whole Week and It Was Glorious
• 2015-03-22 Príomh Ó hÚigínn: The futility of building full JS websites
• 2012-03-13 Tantek Çelik:

  JS/AJAX-only-biggots, I'm tired of waiting for bloated scripts before clicking links+buttons #SXSW #wifi. e.g.: @Twitter @Foursquare @Facebook etc. We figured this out in the mid-2000s: how to write Unobtrusive JavaScript^1/Ajax^2 (AKA Hijax^3), how to write links and forms that work with serverside roundtrips if external JS hasn't loaded yet due to slow/flakey networks.

• [unknown date] Stuart Langridge: Everyone has JavaScript, right?

Commentary threads:

• Hacker News

  I surf the web with NoScript (a FireFox extension to block java script on a per-domain basis, the sake of security). That also enforces "js; dr". Some pages show absolutely no content unless you allow JS from their domain, and perhaps others. I often don't bother; just back button out of there and go somewhere else.

• Reddit

  I am seeing more and more single-page apps that are nothing more than documents, blogs or articles for which relying on JavaScript is not appropriate. Often this breaks down one way or another (back button, stuck "loading" screen, bad formatting).

• Twitter: comments regarding js;dr and related
  • ... lots of individual tweets, threads, follow-ups

IndieWeb Examples

• Aaron Parecki lost the 1999 version of his website, and archive.org only has the front page because many pages were hidden behind Javascript popup window links.

Dead To History Examples

Examples of js;dr sites that failed to be archived in the Internet Archive, subsequently died, and thus all their content is dead to history.

Readability

Readability was js;dr:

In case you ever wondered how data loss thanks to “JavaScript required” looks like…

(Screenshot showing Readability with "Loading Readlists..." but no actual content due to js;dr).

Web Content Examples

Examples of primarily content-based sites that are js;dr, in other words, have no real excuse other than poor engineering (or paying for poor engineering)

Huffington Post

Huffington Post articles are js;dr as noted https://twitter.com/kevinmarks/status/651165250666938369

Pacific Standard

If you load the Pacific Standard without JS, you get a blank page.

The Mill

http://www.themillsf.com/ is a San Francisco based cafe and bakery that serves pizza on Monday nights.

• Solution: create your own indie venue, and in the link to their own home page, add caveats like "WARNING: Unreadable on some browsers due to Javascript. See js;dr for more."

Open Switch

• http://www.openswitch.net/

What should be a very simple content-based website is rendered by Javascript instead. The initial view shows a loading icon which then renders the page after a few seconds.

Security Trap

Articles on securitytrap.com, e.g.:

• http://www.securitytrap.com/mail/bugtraq/2004/Oct/0287.html (found via https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=30609 related to curl function in PHP)

ironically are empty without JS enabled:

This site requires JavaScript and Cookies to be enabled. Please change your browser settings or upgrade your browser.

As predicted in the js;dr post[1] - that securitytrap.com article is dead to history - the archive.org copy is empty of any content:

• http://web.archive.org/web/20080401235506/http://www.securitytrap.com/mail/bugtraq/2004/Oct/0287.html

Webwewant Mozilla

2014-05-04 @seanparsons: “One that doesn't require Javascript”

2016-06-10 @anseljh: “The web I want doesn't need JavaScript to render content, @Mozilla.”

Shows webwewant.mozilla.org loaded without Javascript, and a mostly blank screen.

Webmaker

https://webmaker.org displays no content without Javascript, as the entire content of the page is loaded from Javascript.

Other

• ... add other js;dr content-centric examples here, along with suggested workarounds

If it's hosting of someone else's content, add it to the Silo Examples section below.

Silo Examples

Blogspot

Google's Blogspot weblog hosting silo's new (2014 and later?) templates tend to be js;dr, completely unnecessary and undesirable for a content-centric service. E.g. as tweeted: https://twitter.com/parkr/status/651142997564755968

Dropbox file URLs

Dropbox file URLs require loading scripts across multiple domains just to view a simple JPEG:

Google Photos

Google Photos photo post permalinks are js;dr when they should at a minimum actually display the photo:

Web App Examples

Google Maps

If you load Google Maps without JS, you get a cheeky error message:

The New Flash

Other (perhaps "artistic") examples which in the 1990s/2000s would have been built and deployed with Flash/SWF, and yet now depend on JS and perhaps other technologies designed to replace many old Flash use-cases.

networkeffect io

The site networkeffect.io when browsed without JS on, says:

To view this website, please enable JavaScript in your browser.

If you do enable JS, and your browser supports whatever JS their site has, you might see a screen like:

Thus elevating WebGL to one kind of "New Flash". (As discovered from https://twitter.com/mcclure111/status/651482137464541184 )

At a minimum the site should have a static text description, with perhaps a static image screenshot of what the WebGL would render by default.

See Also

• longevity
• archival
• https://twitter.com/jkphl/status/792452368562618369: seen in "Inclusive Design Patterns" page 88 by Heydon Pickering (October 2016)
• http://youmightnotneedjs.com/
• https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13212465
• https://www.stephanboyer.com/post/122/does-google-execute-javascript
• performance
• https://sonniesedge.co.uk/blog/a-day-without-javascript
• https://twitter.com/brian_d_vaughn/status/897579764935872512