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---
title: Google Recommends Progressive Enhancement
pub_date: 2014-10-28 09:30:23
slug: /blog/2014/10/google-progressive-enhancement
metadesc: Google has updated its webmaster tools guidelines to suggest developers use progressive enhancement.
---
Just in case you don't subscribe to the [Longhandpixels newsletter][1] (for shame, sign up in the footer :-)), Google recently [updated its Webmaster Guidelines][2] to suggest that developers use progressive enhancement.
Here's the quote:
>Just like modern browsers, our rendering engine might not support all of the technologies a page uses. Make sure your web design adheres to the principles of progressive enhancement as this helps our systems (and a wider range of browsers) see usable content and basic functionality when certain web design features are not yet supported.
As a fan of progressive enhancement ever since the term first appeared on Webmonkey eons ago, I would like to say thank you to Google. Thank you for throwing your weight behind progressive enhancement.
I consider progressive enhancement the cornerstone on which all web design builds (literally and figuratively), but I also know from painful experience that not every developer agrees. I also know nothing shuts up a web developer faster than saying, *well, Google says...*
What makes Google's announcement even more interesting is that it comes in the middle of a post that's actually telling developers that Google spiders will now render CSS and JavaScript. Even as Google's spiders get smarter and better at rendering pages the company still thinks progressive enhancement is important.
If you're scratching your head wondering what progressive enhancement is, well, you can go read Steve Champeon’s [original Webmonkey article][3] for some background and then check out Aaron Gustafson's [ALA article from 2008][4].
If you're interested in how progressive enhancement works in conjunction with responsive design, pick up a copy of my book, <cite>[Build a Better Web with Responsive Design][5]</cite>. I published an excerpt that covers some aspects of progressive enhancement, responsive design and [Why mobile-first is the right way to build responsive websites][6], if you'd like to get a feel for what I'm talking about.
[1]: https://longhandpixels.net/newsletter/
[2]: http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2014/10/updating-our-technical-webmaster.html
[3]: http://hesketh.com/publications/progressive_enhancement_and_the_future_of_web_design.html
[4]: http://alistapart.com/article/understandingprogressiveenhancement
[5]: https://longhandpixels.net/books/responsive-web-design
[6]: https://longhandpixels.net/blog/2014/04/why-mobile-first-responsive-design
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