HTML Can Do That

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Modern HTML and CSS are now capable of handling much more interactivity natively—things like dialogs, popovers, grouped `<details>`, responsive images, and even some accordion- and tab-style UI—leading many developers to question whether heavy JavaScript frameworks or SPAs are really necessary for common interfaces. Commenters highlight real benefits: faster server‑rendered pages, better baseline accessibility, and simpler architectures that still work for users who block or lack JavaScript. At the same time, they point out sharp edges and gaps—spotty support for features like `<datalist>` and date pickers, limited styling and UX control, and the need for richer components such as sortable tables or more powerful comboboxes—arguing that HTML can replace some, but not all, of today’s JS‑driven patterns.

Capabilities and Limits of Native HTML Widgets

  • Many are impressed by how much interactivity is now possible with “HTML only” plus CSS (dialogs, popovers, details, view transitions).
  • Others stress that some features are still “almost there”: e.g., datalist lacks strong value constraints, fuzzy search, and has patchy browser support.
  • Native date pickers are widely criticized as buggy, inconsistent across browsers/OS, and easily broken by password managers.

Hidden Content, &lt;details&gt;, and Searchability

  • hidden="until-found" and &lt;details&gt; are praised for allowing CTRL+F to reveal collapsed content (FAQs, org charts, tabbed content).
  • Use cases include “view terms/exclusions” panels, collapsible trees, and “skip to content” patterns (though that’s better solved via focus styling).
  • There’s debate about grouped/accordion behavior: some want only one &lt;details&gt; open; others (citing UX research) find auto-closing frustrating.

SPAs, JavaScript, and “HTML-First” Approaches

  • Several users run NoScript and judge sites by how much third‑party JS they require; they appreciate sites that mostly work without JS.
  • Many dislike SPAs for breaking URLs, back button, and bookmarks; others note this can be solved with proper routing and URL updates.
  • There’s enthusiasm for “server-rendered plus sprinkles” patterns (HTMX, minimal JS, View Transition API) and experiments with fully JS-free UIs.

Dialogs, Popovers, and Declarative Actions

  • New popover/dialog/command attributes get praise for consistent focus, stacking, accessibility, and zero-JS menus/tooltips/confirmations.
  • Critics see the declarative actions API (popovertarget, ...action) as over-complicating HTML versus simple JS event handlers.
  • Proponents argue it enables faster time-to-interactive, better SSR, and script-less interactivity; script attributes can be disabled, making declarative bindings useful.

Tables, Sorting, and Layout vs Semantics

  • Some want native sortable tables and even built-in virtualization; others insist “that’s what JS is for” and worry about browser bloat.
  • Server-side sorting via links in headers is defended as simple and still performant; others want multi-column, no-refresh sorting.
  • A side debate: HTML as structure/semantics vs layout. Some argue tags implicitly describe layout; others cite specs saying layout belongs to CSS.

Dates, Forms, and Localization

  • Requests for forcing ISO date formats or aligning with page lang; current OS-native formats confuse users and back-office workflows.
  • Suggestions: make &lt;time&gt; actually localize display, or always submit ISO while showing localized formats consistently.

Browser Support, Adoption, and Tooling

  • Concern that growing standards surface makes new engines hard to build; some hesitate to adopt new features even when supported.
  • LLMs and code generators are said to lag on new HTML/CSS APIs, reinforcing older JS-heavy patterns, though “skills” and guidance could mitigate this.

Miscellaneous Notes

  • Responsive images (srcset, &lt;picture&gt;) are discussed; &lt;picture&gt; seen as more flexible than srcset alone.
  • Native controls like &lt;select&gt; and color inputs are underused partly because they’re hard to style uniformly across platforms.