ASP.NET MVC, JSON & non JavaScript clients

Question

I need to ensure that an application I am developing is accessable and also works with JavaScript turned off. I just need a pointer to assist with the following.

I had 3

Answer 1

You can check the IsMvcAjaxRequest property and use it inside your controller and then return a partial view (user control) or JSON result if true, or the full View if it's false.

Something like this:

public ActionResult List()
{
   if (!Request.IsMvcAjaxRequest())
   {
       // Non AJAX requests see the entire ViewPage.
       return View();
   }
   else
   {
       // AJAX requests just get a trimmed down UserControl.
       return Json(...);
   }
 } 

More info here: MVC AJAX Sites That Gracefully Degrade

Answer 2

(ref. your previous answer): You could pass a value in your Request.Form to signal that this is a browser with or without javascript enabled, and then create a controller factory that will instantiate the appropriated controller according to what you get in Request.Form; a default controller for regular requests (browsers with javascript enabled) and a "Fallback controller" that only returns full views instead. I am not sure if having twice the number of controllers is better than those if-else statements around a single controller, but I guess it's a question of personal preference.

I bet there are simpler solutions, though..I wish this question had more exposure.