To Flash Or Not To Flash

In this blog I am going to review the pros, cons, and basically everything to consider regarding Flash and your website. First, it is best to have a basic understanding of what Flash really is. Flash is a multimedia platform that is currently developed by Adobe Systems. It is a popular format in which to add interactivity to a website, stream video, and develop rich internet applications. A lot of the most recent Flash development has been geared toward the social networking giant Facebook. Many of the optional applications, whether it be a game or some other media sharing do-dad, was created using Flash. So what exactly does that mean in terms of your personal or business webpage? There are many things to consider, but the first thing to think about is what you want it to DO.

There are several avenues you can take to get your website to have cool effects and keep the user interested in staying at your site. Some of the most popular are menu systems that have rollover effects or links that change color. Simple things like this are easily done without using Flash to do it for you. However, if you want your menu to have a custom roll-out effect or have some snazzy animation play when a user does something, then you are looking into the realm of Flash. Generally, if you want something on your site to do any type of animating, you will want to consider using Flash to accomplish your goal. Now that you have an idea of when you would want to use Flash on your website you need to look into the other pros and cons of using flash in your website.

Pros:

• Basically any effect you want can be created
• You have more control over what specifically happens
• It is cross-browser compatible
• It can keep the user interested in the page
• Professional animations make the site look more high-tech

Cons:

• Creation can be time consuming (thereby increasing the price of the website)
• File sizes can be large which can lead to slow page load times
• Content within the Flash will not be seen by a web crawler (there are ways around this)
• Content within the Flash is not as easily changed
• If a user has Flash disabled the area that holds the animation will be blank
• Flash animations are not supported on mobile phones

In a nutshell, the use of Flash should be determined on a project to project basis. If the effect you are looking for is easily created without Flash, then that is the best way to go. Or if you can get something similar that you also like, then Flash can be overlooked. However, if you have a specific animation or effect that you want, Flash offers the flexibility to achieve nearly all of those goals. Just remember, when you’re building your website: Flash responsibly!