You might have noticed these changes, but The Guardian has moved from the previous client-oriented system to a server-oriented platform. As I remember, after you opened an article link, the web page would be downloaded and then some JavaScript would follow. The script would scour the webpage for readers’ comments that would then be displayed as part of the article. For the readers, the old system was terrible because if you could not or did not run JavaScript, then the comments wouldn’t appear.
Issues With the Old System
The previous system was also detrimental for SEO. Since JavaScript wouldn’t run, the comments couldn’t be viewed. Also, you wouldn’t be able to see the comments if your phone didn’t support JavaScript. For readers, who couldn’t run JavaScript, they would be met with a warning sign, “In order to see comments, please turn JavaScript on in your browser.
In addition, the old system was surely a breach of The Guardian’s accessibility policy. It was also very frustrating for the majority of users.
New System
The Guardian have made some changes to allow, including those whose devices do not run JavaScript, or readers who have JavaScript disabled by default. Now the comments will be viewed as part of the webpage, easing navigation. The change will also help SEO and it seems the website wants to improve the system by collecting more reviews on the new system.
The benefits for SEO are already evident, since Google has begun indexing some comments from the webpage. If you do a simple search of a comment on a story from The Guardian, it will return the webpage. In contrast, the previous system would not have displayed comments on search because of the JavaScript problem.
