If you know about the timeless importance of graceful degradation then you need not read this, but for those of you who think it’s an old-fashioned methodology or even an optional technicality then let me be the first to tell you that you’re wrong! I know this may put me, a mere 18-year-old web developer in the awkward position of having to tell some ignorant 50-year-old that they’re wrong but I’m perfectly comfortable with that if it ensures a better internet!

I’ve never surfed the web in a browser less capable than IE5, this should say quite a lot about my lack of understanding of less capable pieces of software and devices, yet, I still appreciate and understand that graceful degradation is of upmost important when creating any website.

Let’s look at your average out-of-college web designer’s perspective on graceful degradation, assuming they know what it means:

Note: When reading the below passage out in your head do it with an "Artful Dodger" (from Oliver Twist) accent; it’ll come across as more believable!

Some idiot:

"Look, mate, I’m NOT gonna build an entire website which validates, is table-less and has degrading JavaScript for any amount of money – that’s just stupid! Even if that 5% stat were true (I doubt it) I wouldn’t feel any different. Graceful degradation is an added feature; something which clients should have to pay more for! I make clients pay more for validation, table-less layouts, optimized images, IE6 support, IE7 support, Opera support, actually anything which isn’t Firefox (FF FTW!) I charge extra for! My approach is way more forward-thinking and innovative than those "standardistas"!! Who the hell gives a damn about some paranoid geek running Lynx to browse the web, and nobody even uses NoScript! If a user disables JavaScript then that user shouldn’t expect functionality, period! And as far as I’m concerned, if a user doesn’t have the very latest nightly build of FF3 then I’m not gonna cater to them!"

Why the idiot is wrong:

The above passage represents the complete and utter idiocy of some people, real people! You might think it’s a little over the top, what with the "if a user doesn’t have the very latest nightly build" comment but overall it is a pretty accurate depiction of what I fear a few web designers around the world actually think.

JavaScript libraries like MooTools, jQuery, Dojo and Prototype have proven very popular with developers recently, perhaps too popular!?

Over the last year there’s been a major recognition boost for these libraries, especially those featuring animations/effects and Ajax capabilities. Blinking/fading/sliding text was in fashion back in the nineties but it seems, following the hype of Web 2.0, these effects have made a massive comeback!

To be honest I think it’s great; what better way to expand the imagination of the average developer than to give him/her some brand new toy to play with? Web developers are now thinking of innovative ways to utilise these new-found JavaScript enhancements and designers are pushing boundaries with their designs, integrating these enhancements into their mockups!

This is all wonderful, but unfortunately I fear the overuse of JavaScript libraries such as jQuery has had a detrimental effect on usability. Obviously we had issues before these libraries and we will surely continue to rave about it afterwards but I cannot help but notice what is happening right now; people are turning a blind eye to usability and focusing all their attention on making their websites as smooth and swish as possible!