What is the difference between graceful degradation and progressive enhancement

In that case — had I been aware of the issue — I would have recommended feature testing not browser sniffing, or any other nastiness using something like Modernizr, and — where applicable — adding transitions based on the capability of the browser accessing the content. Defensive design! I completely agree with your suggestion of feature detection over browser detection, relying on the user-agent string is unreliable at best.

Corporate IT departments need to get out of the dark ages and start supporting Google Chrome. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. Get the Guide. About the Author More from this Author.

Amit Malhotra January 29, at pm. Martin Ridgway January 29, at pm. Pete Yagmin peteyagmin January 31, at am. You may also want to add topping and candles. This would be a JavaScript in the web world. Before starting the development, you should decide what is the core functionality and how you can realize it. If there is no way to avoid JavaScript — let it be. Both methods assist in making a website accessible alongside providing the enhanced features for those who can take advantage of it.

So which one is better? Progressive enhancement is usually considered a better practice as it starts with the simple basics and adds enhancements on top of that. Learn more. What are the differences between Progressive Enhancement and Graceful Degradation? Ask Question.

Asked 11 years, 2 months ago. Active 11 years, 2 months ago. Viewed 4k times. Improve this question. Rahul Was it necessary to make this community wiki? This is a question that can be given a specific, correct answer.

By mistake somehow I made it CW! Unable to figure it out! Add a comment. Active Oldest Votes. Motolix' answer is very broad, so let me add the answer that is specific to web development. Improve this answer. However, that does not necessarily mean developers can rely on users having the latest or even a current browser.

A simple example of progressive enhancement though it could also be seen as graceful degradation is in within—web page navigation for screen reader and keyboard-only users. Before the advent of WAI-ARIA landmarks, the way to provide this within-page navigation was to provide bypass links, which would typically be located at the top left of the page.

These bypass links lead to strategically placed anchors, often next to navigation elements and at the top of the main content area.