Progressive Enhancement
Progressive Enhancement is a web development strategy that prioritizes core content and functionality for all users, then layers on enhanced features for browsers with advanced capabilities. It ensures a baseline experience works on any device or browser, while providing richer interactions for modern environments. This approach improves accessibility, performance, and resilience by building from a solid foundation upward.
Developers should use Progressive Enhancement when building websites or applications that need to reach a broad audience, including users on older browsers, low-bandwidth connections, or assistive technologies. It's crucial for ensuring accessibility compliance, improving SEO through semantic HTML, and creating robust applications that degrade gracefully when advanced features fail. This methodology is particularly valuable for public-facing sites, e-commerce platforms, and government services where inclusivity is a priority.