Back in the day, using Flash on websites was the “it” and “now” thing to have. It was kind of like this thing called “social networking”, which everyone needs to have yesterday.
Now all of a sudden people are saying things like, “I don’t want Flash” or “Just don’t use Flash”. So what changed?
From our perspective, there are a few common complaints with Flash, here are a few in no particular order along with the associated truth:
- SEO happened and Flash was not ready. Google could not index content inside Flash, so everyone freaked out because no one could find their site built in Flash. This is was a big one.
- The truth is that Google can index Flash if it is done correctly. Read Google’s blog for more details.
- Flash takes too long to load in a browser.
- There are some Flash sites that take long to load, but the amount of time is adjustable depending on how much Flash content you want loaded. Flash sites are all about rich-content and slick interactive interfaces. If you want a robust Flash interface, it will need time to load. That being said, you can limit the usage of Flash if you do not want there to be any load time issues. It all depends on what type of site you have and if the load time is worth the wait like NVidia.
- Flash requires a plugin and some people will not have it to view the site.
- There are some rare cases where users will not have the Flash plugin, but according to Adobe 99% of desktops have some version of Flash installed. You just need to make sure your Flash site is reaching the right percentage of users based on their version, and if they don’t have Flash installed be prepared to offer an adequate replacement for that part of the site.
- Accessibility of Flash sites is an issue for people with various disabilities.
- Without question Flash is not the right choice for a site that has a large disabled audience, but there are many ways to increase accessibility if you know the pitfalls. Adobe offers some information and we can elaborate on this if you are interested.
- Flash is too expensive to build and maintain.
- Naturally a fully interactive user interface takes more time to build than a static brochure-ware website, so the added cost is expected, right? As always, the right solution is the one that solves the particular problem and budget of course. Flash can also use cost-effective content management if it is built correctly, so maintenance time can be reduced drastically.
All of these can be issues if you are not informed or if your Flash developer is not aware of the best practices. This can be said about anything- always make sure you get the best information before making a decision. If you want a really slick site, DO NOT dismiss Flash as an option.
