Unobtrusive Ajax

Jesse Skinner

Copyright © 2007 O'Reilly Media, Inc.

July 10, 2007

Abstract

Unobtrusive Ajax is about making web applications that work for everyone all the time, even if you have JavaScript turned off, or you're using a mobile phone or a screen reader, or however you happen to be using the Web. It's about the separation of behavior (JavaScript), content (HTML), and presentation (CSS).

This short cut will focus on the practical benefits of using Ajax and JavaScript unobtrusively and show you that unobtrusive web development and progressive enhancement benefit both web developers and users of the Web. You'll get to see many simple examples of building web interfaces that are unobtrusive. You'll quickly see that it is actually very easy to make web applications that everyone can use.

When you're finished reading this book, you will be able to convince anyone why developing unobtrusively is the best way to build a site with JavaScript and Ajax.

Ajax has changed the way we think about web applications and the Web in general. It has made it possible to create web applications and interfaces that are even better than what has traditionally been done on the desktop. No longer do we have to wait for the page to refresh, plus we get access to enormous amounts of data that we never would have had on the desktop.

Unfortunately, Ajax has also made the Web a lot more inflexible. Some web ...