AJAX and forms

Question

I have some forms that communicate with server using AJAX for real reasons: cascade combos, suggestions, multiple correlated selections (e.g. I have {elementary} knowledge of {French} [add], and {good} knowledge of {German} [add]...). I also have some regular fields that I handle trough get.

Thing is that once I've made connection to server-side, it would be easier to me to push all data that way. Is it going too far? What about if I have no reason for AJAX in the first place, and I still use it for pushing form data? I would feel obligated to provide fallback for people with javascript off, but most of the underlying logic would be the same, so it doesn't seam to me as an much of an overhead. It is a kind of data I would push through post anyway, so I'm not losing get parameters that would be good for something.

Any reason not to do things this way?

Answer 1

The only problem with this strategy is that you're in a lot deeper trouble if someone decides they want a non-javascript solution as well. I think it's fairly wise to use the "least fancy" mechanism that will get the desired result on the web. If it's just a form post, then keep it a form post unless there's a reason to do otherwise.

Answer 2

User experience is an important part of any software product. If you can improve the experience by providing better interactions, there's no reason not to do it.

Make sure though that you write unobtrusive and degradable javascript, so users with screen-readers or javascript-disabled browsers can still complete the interactions.