AJAX Accessibiliy

My clients used to pay me for what I could do on the backend. Now, they seem most impressed by what I do using JavaScript. They seem to want rich interfaces, but what does that mean in terms of accessibility? I have written that asking a developer not to use AJAX is like asking Spielberg not to use a camera because some people are blind.

Basically, Steve King does not write novels for the blind, but someone comes along later to produce a Braille version, or to record the book. A producer of TV content does not have to think about closed captioning – somebody else does that. Why is this my problem? If I send an email, the technology supports me. Why don’t I have more support from the people who build special readers?

My first feeling, when I read that someone thinks I should not be using AJAX is that I am being limited and held back. My clients are asking me to work on applications that are not accessible as things stand, and they will not be accessible even if I avoid AJAX in the piece of work I do. Why shouldn’t I use AJAX?

However, now I have to think about accessibility. One day, I will be asked to work on a web application that is accessible. How do I continue to build usable, responsive apps? I cannot answer all of these questions right now, but here is part of the solution, as outlined by Simon Wilson, in a presentation of JQuery: Unobtrusive JavaScript with jQuery.