Refactor: Initialize status in JS, not HTML?

[ceceliacreates]

In the index.html file, there is code for a status (default is "Not Recording") that is grabbed by the JS file and attributed to a variable, domStatus. Is there a reason the data is stored in the HTML as a hidden div instead of as part of the flt object? I'm not sure how hidden divs interact with screen readers, or if there is a specific benefit to storing that data in the HTML.