It is unfortunate that modern web development has led to websites so complex that they either break entirely or look terrible in text-based browsers like Lynx. Take Mastodon, for example:<p><pre><code> $ lynx https://mastodon.social/
[…]
To use the Mastodon web application, please enable JavaScript.
Alternatively, try one of the native apps for Mastodon for your
platform.
</code></pre>
The C2 Wiki does not load either:<p><pre><code> $ lynx https://wiki.c2.com/
[…]
javascript required to view this site
why
</code></pre>
To their credit, at least they use the <noscript> tag to display the above notices. Some websites don't even bother with that. But there are many old school websites that still load fine to varying degrees:<p><pre><code> lynx https://danluu.com/ # Mostly okay but some needed spaces missing
lynx https://en.wikipedia.org/ # Okay, but a large wall of links on top
lynx https://irreal.org/blog/ # Renders fine
lynx https://libera.chat/ # Mostly fine
lynx https://news.ycombinator.com/ # Of course!
lynx https://sachachua.com/ # Mostly fine
lynx https://shkspr.mobi/ # Renders really well
lynx https://susam.net/ # Disclosure: This is mine
lynx https://norvig.com/ # A classic!
lynx https://nullprogram.com/ # Also pretty good
</code></pre>
If you have more examples, please comment, and I'll add them to this list in the two hour edit window I have.<p>While JavaScript has its place, I believe that websites that focus on delivering primarily text content could prioritise working well in TUI browsers. Sometimes testing it with text-based browsers may even show fundamental issues with your HTML. For example, several times, I've seen that multiple navigation links next to each other have no whitespace between them. The links may appear like this:<p><pre><code> HomeBlogRSSAboutCodebergMastodon
</code></pre>
Or, in a list of articles, dates and titles may appear jammed together:<p><pre><code> 14 Mar 2025The Lost Art of Dual Booting
15 Mar 2025Some Forgotten Features of Gopher
16 Mar 2025My Favourite DOS Games
</code></pre>
The missing spaces aren't obvious in a graphical browser due to the CSS styling hiding the issue, but in a text-based one, the issue becomes apparent. The number of text-based web users may be shrinking, but there are some of us who still browse the web using tools like lynx, w3m, and M-x eww, at least occasionally.