What is Progressive Enhancement?

Question

Jeff mentioned the concept of \'Progressive Enhancement\' when talking about using JQuery to write stackoverflow.

After a quick Google, I found a couple of high-leve

Answer 1

Progressive Enhancement is a development technique that stresses the primacy of the semantic HTML, then testing for browser-capability and conditionally "layering" on JavaScript and/or CSS enhancements for the browsers that can utilize those enhancements.

One of the keys is understanding that we're testing for what the browser can do, as opposed to browser-sniffing. Modernizr is a very popular browser-capability test suite.

Progressive-Enhancement is inherently (section 508) accessible; it provides for meeting the letter of the law and the spirit of the rule.

The Filament Group wrote the excellent "Designing With Progressive Enhancement" book on the subject. (I am not affiliated with Filament Group, though they are so freaking smart I wish I were.)

Answer 2

Progressive Enhancement:

1. The plain HTML/CSS site is awesome (fully working and user-friendly).
2. Adding JavaScript defines a new level of awesome.