DHTML Developer Checklist

Introduction

Web 2.0-style user interfaces, built using DHTML, JavaScript, and AJAX, have become increasingly popular within community source applications in recent months. While these technologies do offer an exciting opportunity to use more recognizable and direct user interface idioms, they also represent a potential barrier to Web accessibility and usability. Developers who create new user interfaces using these technologies need to be aware of the challenges they present, and understand the techniques that can help ensure a usable experience for all users.

This checklist is intended to provide developers with a quick overview of a few of the most important issues to watch out for when developing DHTML and AJAX-based user interfaces. It may also be suitable as a starting point for thinking about UI technical governance, ensuring all new user interfaces address these issues before being included in a release. Fluid is committed to helping community source developers implement these strategies in their own code, and is working to grow a library of well-designed user interface components that will help to ease the burden of creating accessible, reusable designs.