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    Yes, in the UK it is law that disabled people should not be discriminated against and this is something all public-sector (government funded) websites have to adhere to. See direct.gov.uk/en/DisabledPeople/RightsAndObligations/… and rnib.org.uk/professionals/webaccessibility/lawsandstandards/… Commented May 12, 2011 at 10:10
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    Relying on javascript does not mean the page is not accessible. Screen readers are perfectly capable of running javascript, and there are standards for accessibility in rich web applications. w3.org/WAI/intro/aria.php Commented Jan 16, 2013 at 7:44
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    In addition, say something happens and your javascript breaks, or the latest browser update has rendered your javascript code not to work, or some other "one off" issue - you still want your users to be able to user your site normally. Commented Jan 16, 2013 at 7:57
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    @DanDiplo What about web apps that cannot be made without JavaScript? Does that mean that web apps are illegal in the UK due to their lack of support for the disabled? What about support for those who are blind and deaf? If we really wanted to support people like that, websites would need to have the ability to interface with a braille printer or something. I'd like to support the disabled as much as possible within development reason, but where do we draw the line? Commented Sep 19, 2014 at 18:15
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    @AmadeusDrZaius You have to realise this was originally answered in 2011 and a lot has changed since then in terms of screen readers and search-engines and their ability to support JavaScript. I'd still argue that in a lot of cases it still makes sense to have apps that degrade nicely, but acknowledge that there will be certain rich apps that rely totally on JS. Commented Sep 20, 2014 at 19:18