> But this requires JavaScript...

Depending on the specific objection to Javascript, this may or may not matter:

1. You object to any/all JS on a page? Yeah, then this won't work for you.

2. You object to having to write JS just to get client-side includes? This should mostly work for you.

It all depends on what the actual objection is.

... but the folks behind that standard don't want to encourage browsing with Javascript off.