Test url availability with javascript

Question

Is it possible through jQuery (or plain javascript) to test if a webpage on another domain is available? I tried getting the response headers with an ajax-call but I get an error no matter what site outside my own domain I test.

So do I really need a proxy script on my server or would I be able to skip that request?

Answer 1

Is it possible through jQuery (or plain javascript) to test if a webpage on another domain is available?

Due to same origin policy restriction you need a proxy/bridge on your server unless the remote server implements JSONP which obviously we cannot assume for the general case.