<noscript>
for the Wicked: I’m Not Buying If I Don’t
Know What You’re Selling
Published on by David VanDusen.
Some websites use <noscript>
tags to tell users what
they’re missing out on when their browsers don’t run JavaScript (often
because it’s disabled or they’re using an ad blocker).
Some websites only make it halfway there. They go to the trouble of
adding <noscript>
tags, but simply say, “This site uses
JavaScript for stuff, so turn it on,” and make no effort to explain what
the stuff is or why it’s valuable.
As people who make websites, it’s our jobs to communicate to users what the site offers and why they should want it. This applies to everything from navigation link text to button labels.
Consider the following <noscript>
text from the wild
and ask yourself how you would react as a user who has JavaScript disabled
because of privacy, security, mobile bandwidth, or other concerns.
“This site requires JavaScript to run correctly. Please turn on JavaScript or unblock scripts.”
“Your browser’s Javascript functionality is turned off. Please turn it on so that you can experience the full capabilities of this site.”
“Your browser does not support the NLM PubReader view. Go to this page to see a list of supported browsers or return to the Article in classic view.
“Hello! Javascript is required for purchasing, signing up for the newsletter, viewing videos, and other content on this page. Please enable Javascript.”
“Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.”
“JavaScript seems to be disabled in your browser. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser.”
“Please enable Javascript and refresh the page to continue.”
“JavaScript is required for full functionality of this site. Learn how to enable JavaScript in your web browser”
“Activate JavaScript! Please activate JavaScript in your browser and refresh this page. This platform will only perform optimally once JavaScript is activated.”
“Please turn JavaScript on and reload the page. DDoS protection by Cloudflare”
“This website requires JavaScript enabled to checkout.”
“You have JavaScript disabled. For the best experience, please turn JavaScript on. Here's how”
“JavaScript is disabled in your browser. In order to use the IKEA Search, JavaScript needs to be enabled.”
“JavaScript is required for parts of this site, like downloading elementary OS and some interactive components.”
“This website is literally about JavaScript. I mean what did you expect, a .NET application? This website is 99.9% poorly optimized and highly questionable JS. And yet, you have JS turned off.”