Building an HTML-first site doubled our users overnight

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

HTML-first & progressive enhancement

  • Many see the story as a strong case study for HTML-first, progressively enhanced sites, especially for public services and forms.
  • Classic web patterns (links, forms, redirects, multi-page “wizards”) are praised for:
    • Working with JS off or broken.
    • Giving users built-in browser behaviors (back/forward, validation UI, focus, keyboard access).
    • Reducing invisible failure modes common in SPAs (spinners, silent JSON errors).
  • Some note this is essentially a rediscovery of “progressive enhancement” and what frameworks like Rails/Django have long encouraged.

React, SPAs, and performance

  • A recurring theme is frustration with heavy React/SPA stacks, build steps, and megabytes of JS for basic forms or mostly-static content.
  • Several argue that while you can build good UX with React, it’s easier to build bad, fragile, inaccessible, or bloated apps:
    • Defaults skew toward client-side rendering and custom widgets instead of semantic HTML.
    • Many developers don’t know how to build working forms without JS.
  • Others push back: the real issue is design and developer skill, not the framework itself; you can also ship HTML-only React or slow server-rendered sites.

Astro, HTMX, Go and other stacks

  • Astro is repeatedly praised for defaulting to static HTML and “opt‑in” islands of JS, unlike React/Next’s “opt‑out” tendency.
  • HTMX + Go + SQLite is cited as a “boring but effective” stack for many apps, with minimal JS and easy deployment.
  • Some discuss Hotwire, server-driven mobile approaches, static site generators (Jekyll), and simple SSR as viable alternatives.

Accessibility, devices, and user empathy

  • Commenters highlight real users on low-end phones, old browsers, consoles, or poor connections; these users are often invisible to JS-based analytics.
  • There’s debate over how many users actually lack JS or modern TLS:
    • One side: even if it’s ~1%, they’re often the most vulnerable and services (especially gov/utility) should accommodate them.
    • Others argue HTTPS‑only and JS‑heavy practices are now the norm, sometimes driven by browser and platform policies.
  • Age and digital literacy are discussed: many non-technical users (of all ages) lack mental models of complex UIs, so simple, robust flows matter.

Metrics, trade-offs, and culture

  • Several note the “doubled users” result is really about higher form completion / lower abandonment, not traffic.
  • Some emphasize trade-offs:
    • HTML-first can mean more bespoke UI work and fewer ready-made component libraries.
    • Teams and hiring pipelines are optimized for React; deviating can feel risky or “more work.”
  • There’s broader criticism of industry incentives: fashion-driven tooling, under-emphasis on fundamentals, and weak empathy for slow devices and disadvantaged users.