Without Javascript you disable AJAX, basically. Its a good thing that it still works, but it needs to be faster overall.
I'll be honest, the AJAX doesn't add anything for me. My ideal webpage has zero movement except scrolling. Things which I would suggest you changed, if you aksed me:
- loading images as you scroll. Let the browser do that. I'm probably going to look at all of them so I'd rather they load before I look rather than waiting for them.
- simulating a loading bar when my browser already has that
- breaking standard keyboard shortcuts (space and shift-space don't work)
- having headings that should be static move around on page load (that's a CSS thing)
- fading in and out on transitions
I'm commited to AJAX for the site, I think it can work great after many iterations and tunings. The site has over 50% of mobile traffic and tries to feel like a webapp on those devices. It has been very interesting to see that percentage grow.
Animations in CSS are pretty hard to get right, I see what you mean. I'm not a fan of the fade either. I didn't know about the shortcuts, I'll definitely look into that.
Cheers from Argentina!