Flash website design has been very popular with web designers in recent years, and as the Adobe® Flash format becomes more and more popular, we can safely assume that more and more Flash websites will pepper the internet in the years to come.  However, many people argue that Flash based websites are slow loading, bloated and to many, frankly unnecessary. What then is the real truth about Flash based web design?  Let’s consider these points…

The Good:

Flash means a more interactive experience…

Flash’s ability to involve the web user opens up an array of exciting possibilities for web developers.  For many years now web programmers and website designers have used Flash to create interactive features… these featured have ranged from engaging feedback forms to enthralling Flash based interactive movies and games. This next level of interactivity has caused web visitors to come back to Flash based sites for more, time and time again.

No cross browser compatibility worries…

With Flash, cross browser compatibility issues are a distant CSS coding memory.  No more sleepless nights over how certain browsers will interpret your HTML code, as regular non flash based websites usually display differently across Internet Explorer, Firefox and Opera etc.  After positioning your site elements in Flash, they should always stay exactly where you positioned them and look the same in every browser so long as the user has installed the latest version of Flash Player.

Communicate with better expression via flash animation…

With Flash, you can make use of animation features to get your message across in a more attractive and more efficient way.  Because Flash is vector based (with smaller file sizes) it is considered to be a more lightweight option for animation versus real movie files which are raster based and are much larger in file size.

The Bad and the ugly:

Adobe® Flash Player Plug-in is required to view Flash content…

In order to view Flash content on the web users have to download the Flash player in advance (before they can view Flash movies).  Therefore immediately upon creating Flash based web content you potentially limit your visitor range.  Not everyone is actively willing to download the Flash player just to view your Flash website or Flash based content.  You may also have to put in a link to the Get Flash’ plug-in page if the user does not have the Flash player installed to give users the option to go to the download page.

Search engine optimisation (SEO) concerns…

If you present your website’s text in Flash, some search engines may not be able to read it and may be unable to index your content.  Apparently Google and others can now read some Flash based text content but do you really want to make it harder for them to do so?  As far as seo is concerned Flash based web design could be a big no no.  If you want to rank well in search engines Flash may not be the best way to go as ultimately there could be less traffic coming to your website.

Slow load times…

Web users have to wait longer for Flash content to load compared to regular text and images, this could potentially cause some visitors to lose their patience and lead to them hitting their browser’s back button.  Sad to say, the longer your Flash website takes to load, the more you could be risking losing precious visitors.

To conclude…

Use Flash only when absolutely necessary… for example, when you need more interactivity and more active animation.  A more balanced approach would be to use a blend of Flash and HTML or simply HTML if your site is only required to present simple graphical and textual information.

Kansieo.com

Being a web/software development company, we use a wide range of applications to create content/products for our clients.

Quite often, clients will ask for some kind of animation incorporated into their design. Some common uses of animation in websites are banners, logos, and navigational buttons. One of the most popular authoring environments for creating these animations is Macromedia Flash. Not only can Flash be used to create the elements mentioned above, it can be used to create entire websites or applications which are much more interactive than traditional HTML sites. It can also be used to create animated cartoons, games, and for displaying video on websites – YouTube being a good example.

Flash content can be viewed through any internet browser which supports the Adobe Flash Player. Flash content can also be viewed on selected mobile and non-PC devices that support a Flash Player plugin.

The Flash authoring environment supports a wide range of file formats, covering images, audio, and video. Having the ability to display high quality raster – or bitmap – images allows the user to create slideshows or add interactivity to images that are otherwise static. However, Flash’s real power lies in its ability to create vector graphics; using this form of artwork helps to cut down on file sizes which helps to keep animations running smoothly, and games performing as the developer intended. This is particularly true for older or slower computers.

Another powerful feature of Flash is its scripting language, ActionScript. Using programming allows the developer to create Flash ‘movies’ which are dynamic, can perform complex calculations, communicate with server side applications, and generally, allow a great deal more control over animations and user interactions.

At T-Enterprise, we use the Flash Authoring environment to create custom games for our clients. These range from simple puzzles to more complex platform games. The client will usually give us a brief of what they are looking for; usually it will require a theme that corresponds to the product or service which they provide. ActionScript allows us to create game ‘engines’ that can simulate real world physics, such as gravity and collision detection. As a result, our games offer high levels of interactivity whilst retaining the initial idea that the client suggested.

Use of, and support for Flash continues to grow, as does the number people who use the internet. Having a viral element – such as a game or video clip – on your website may help to increase traffic to your pages.

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