Can GWT be made accessible for users with JavaScript disabled?

Question

My question concerns Google Web Toolkit (GWT). I'm about to begin development for a project that will reside on an Intranet where some users may have JavaScript disabled. After seeing what GWT has done for Google Wave I've been very interested in learning and applying it to this new project, but if it isn't accessible to those users then I don't think I'll be able to use it. I noticed that the example applications on the GWT website don't work at all with JavaScript disabled. So, can GWT be used in a way where content and functionality is still accessible to users with JavaScript disabled? If not, wouldn't this be a massive oversight by Google?

If it's of any use, this project will be using Spring MVC 3.0 with Hibernate and JPA.

Answer 1

The whole problem that GWT solves is JavaScript and AJAX programming. If you aren't targeting browsers that have that enabled, then GWT is not for your project. I wouldn't say its an oversight at all. Developing a framework that would leave JavaScript optional would either be very lowest common denominator, or very frustrating, as many features would have to be noted as requiring JavaScript.

Answer 2

Q: Can an entirely javascript based framework work with javascript turned off?
A: No

You could of course detect whether javascript is enabled and build an entirely different site for those users, but why bother? Tell them to turn javascript on if they want to use your site. Let's face it 30% of the internet is broken without javascript, and turning it off is very rare these days. That's 90's thinking that is ;)

Answer 3

GWT is a great tool in cleanup the badness of JS that is for certain, but it can't fix the bad developments and the whole world of other bad JS sites. So the cops and govs turn off them perhaps for a reason. The various flash are good looking and very interactive but I always find them over do the presentation as to the content and functionality. The ones that offers both doesn't seems to be very robust.

If you really like GWT and they are turning off the JS for the world, will they willing to turn it back on if the incoming JS contents are striped out at their internet gateway?

Answer 4

GWT: Java->JS "compiler".

So, no.