Disadvantages of Ajax

The Disadvantages of Using AJAX

While AJAX website hosting has become one of the main technological advances of the past decade, AJAX is still has its imperfections. Like any technology, AJAX has many disadvantages, which makes many webmasters think twice about adding it to their websites.

So what are some of the disadvantages of using AJAX?

Privacy

Because AJAX loads information and processes in the background of the application, the end user never sees half of what’s being sent to the server and possibly stored as data. Some web developers wonder how safe AJAX really is for unassuming clients and criticize the applications that are powered by it.

One reason was brought to the attention of the media and public via a single article on AJAX security, where the author spoke about the actions users cannot see being recorded. For example, say you are filling out an application for a job as a nanny. The form asks if you have ever been convicted of a criminal act, and you accidentally click “yes”. If the form you’re filling out uses AJAX, the person accepting the application may have stored your “yes” answer even after you remedy the error and click “no” and it may hurt your chances of getting the job.

Google Cannot Index AJAX Pages

This is one of the main reasons most people do not use AJAX on every single page of their website. Normally, limiting the pages you use AJAX on can remedy this issue, as can sporadically adding bits and pieces of AJAX technologies here and there. If a whole page or application is written in AJAX, Google does not currently have the capability to index it, which can hurt your Search Engine Optimization efforts and Page Rank.

Accessibility

Probably the biggest downfall to AJAX-powered websites is the accessibility issues that arise in its code. One of the great advantages of using AJAX is the fact that any browser and any operating system can handle its code. However, older versions of the same modern browsers may not be able to read the JavaScript or XML objects required to view AJAX applications. Furthermore, some browsers have JavaScript automatically disabled and some users may not understand how to remedy this and may leave your site.

However, all of these disadvantages have some kind of simple fix that can be incorporated to rectify their errors. For example, in the case of inaccessible browsers, a separate version of an AJAX-powered site or a simple popup that informs the user that they must enable JavaScript may be the key to saving visitor abandonment. Google will likely advance with these technologies and someday find a way around their indexing issue, and it may someday be required of all AJAX applications to forewarn users about what information is being saved and viewed.