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is javascript-free content such an important issue for accessibility? Do screen-readers not work on javascript-generated websites?

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They do work (and Dragon NaturallySpeaking doesn’t work if you turn JS off). You do have to be careful though that you’re using semantic elements, and you should absolutely be testing in them. It’s all to easy to change content on the page and not alert a screenreader user that they’ll need to be aware of something.

No, "works without Javascript" is way outdated advice that has nothing to do with accessibility in the modern world. The whole point of ARIA is to make dynamic, JS-driven web UIs accessible.

But websites that don't bother to make their websites accessible without JavaScript have a bad track record for implementing ARIA (correctly).

Good accessible design has benefits for everyone, not only the disabled. For instance, that half of the web breaks when you turn off JavaScript, turned into a security issue when Tor Browser enabled it by default (to not confuse their users with a broken web).

Progressive enhancement and accessibility go hand-in-hand. If not for accessibility reasons, then develop websites with accessible JavaScript for security, SEO/automated access, or progressive enhancement reasons.

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