Progressive enhancement underrated
2024-10-17 16:07:00 +07:00 by Mark Smith
cat << EOF
I think progressive enhancement is such a cool idea and feature of the web. Though different people’s approach vary a lot, the basic principle of getting something minimally functional first is a tried and tested approach to engineering that will keep you from getting stuck in unnecessary weeds.
That’s why the uk.gov progressive enhancement service manual is worth reading. It might not be exactly how you should approach it for your particular situation, but they likely will have some aspects that would be applicable. A lot can be learnt from organisations that have explored such topics at a deep level, and the UK government’s approach to progressive enhancement and the web in general certainly is that.
Progressive enhancement does seem a bit burdensome at first, creating unnecessary obstacles, but after a lot of years building websites, I’ve seen so many frameworks and cool new things fall by the wayside, and seen time and time again that at the very least having a progressive enhancement mindset will help you avoid nasty unnexpected issues.
Make sure the site at least works minimally without styling and javascript. I'm not a religious absolutist about it but I find that it actually helps you focus on core functionality, then when the foundations are strong, the enhancement phase is much easier, and fun. In some ways it’s a bit like having quality test suites to run your backend code through. It inspires a certain confidence in your ability to make changes to the code base.
I wish more people wrote about their experiences with progressive enhancement in web development. I feel like it’s a somewhat undiscovered area of exploration.