What's wrong with FLASH websites??

ryan brown

ryan brown

lOwEr CaSe Member
Didn't want to hijack another thread, so I'll just make a new.

Alright... gotta ask it. Why do so many people have problems with FLASH sites? am I missing something? do they function properly on all platforms? why or why not? is it mainly just personal taste? or technical reasoning?

I've got a web guy working on a site for me right now, and he uses flash. Before I get too involved, I'd like to hear some of your opinions...


-brown
 
most people have flash. i have flash sites and have never heard of problems. i'm sure there is some statistic out there about what percentage of internet users have flash player on their system, and would imagine that percentage is quite high.

one problem i see a lot is sites that aren't really efficient and take forever to load, even on broadband. that tends to be annoying.
 
Flash is not universal, and it goes against many standards, etc for good web practices. Disabled people's can't enlarge fonts if need be, back button functionality is useless, people create their own navigation, therefore muddying up the already muddy internet, etc.

I would at least provide an HTML/CSS version of your site. Also, as a professional site, some clients may not have Flash and probably won't want to sit around and download it, may not want to wait for it to load, some of the features may not be compatible with older versions of the Flash player, people can't search the content of your site, etc.

Flash definatley has it's place, but it's the most abused software since lensflare's in Photoshop...actually probably more so
 
The main problem with flash sites is most people are NOT on high speed internet (last time I checked). Flash sites take much longer to load and as a dialup user (where I live they can get high speed a mile away from me but I'm out) if it takes more than a minute I am out. Some small elements are fine but to make the whole site flash will drive away the non-high speed users for the most part. I don't feel like wasting my internet time waiting for some junk to load when I could be using that bandwidth to be doing something really constructive.
 
Half-assed programmers. That's your answer.

High-dollar Flash Sites operate anyway, everywhere. Please see: Gucci
 
Problems with Flash:

- no browser navigation
- slow download speeds unless it's programmed very well
- no searchability
- no search engine optimization (SEO)
- no accessability
- platform dependent
- no content access

on the lighter side it does give you the ability to make sites that are infinately more interesting than what straight html can do.

AND if you have a good web designer they can bypass most if not all of these problems by heavy use of databases and ActionScript. but it costs.

mor10
 
Kholi nailed it. Failure to check Flash presence and/or version and provide an alternative in a seamless manner where appropriate. Instead, they typically offer up a blank screen or tell their guest to go upgrade their software. Very bad manners on a business site. Often the higher you go up the food chain in a company the less often the software is upgraded due to time, security concerns, etc. So, you can easily offend the very person whose decision you need to make a sale.
 
Flash sites and there loading times and waiting game is very annoying, flash sites put form over function, somthing that i guess i dont belive in.

With new AJAX stuff being released, you can often get the flash look (animations, fade's resizes, etc) while still being very compliant and using browser navigation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AJAX
 
A well-done Flash site can be very compact, load-wise. I'd consider your target before even thinking about the (very valid) technical and UI matters mentioned by others here. My old agency redid their site before I left and we did a full Flash thing with no HTML backup. Even the nav is a bit you-have-to-try-it-to-get-it. Why did we do that? Because it was an ad agency and we didn't want to work for people that weren't savvy enough to have Flash or adventurous enough to click a mouse button to see what happens. (The site, btw, is http://www.fhdallas.com)

But if you think your target is going to be more frustrated than impressed, skip it. I don't use flash on my personal sites because I want super-fast loads and I don't want to learn another web language.
 
It's kinda like when an M2 gets a bad rap: OPERATOR ERROR. It ain't Flash's fault that people aren't paying for good encoding and programming.

http://www.iowainteractive.com/home_flash.php

I have to reference Iowa EVERY TIME this subject comes up. Please, visit their sites and find one that you have an issue with in any form or fashion.

Load times-- Check
Browser Compatibility-- Check
Resolution Compatibility-- Check

Don't blame Flash, blame the people that get paid who haven't been properly trained; I am included in this conglomerate.
 
As has been said, it depends entirely on your audience. Where I work, (State Government) flash is a no-no. I have to create everything for the lowest common denominator, which is netscape 4 over a 14.4 connection over satellite to a village on the arctic coast. If you want your site to be art, great; use the medium which will give you the product you want. But if you want it to provide easily accessible information to your target audience, you have to balance aesthetics with function.

If you are creating a website where potentional clients can learn how to contact you and learn about your business, you might consider a simple low tech site.

However, If you are showcasing your work, you may have a little more latitude, as people will probably be expecting a rich media experience (and all that goes with that) when they go online to look at a video.

In addition, accesibility for those who have limited sight/hearing/mobility can also be a big concern, depending on your audience.
 
Cryogenic Filmworks said:
The main problem with flash sites is most people are NOT on high speed internet (last time I checked).
Click to expand...

yikes, it's like these people are still living in the middle ages. (the 1990s)
 
If the person viewing the website can't afford a high speed connection they probably can't afford to pay for a film or video. So you lose a portion of the audience that can't afford your services anyway. Frankly, I don't see the problem.
 
ugafan said:
yikes, it's like these people are still living in the middle ages. (the 1990s)
Click to expand...
I live within 1/2 mile of my sister and a university. They have it but I keep being told I am on a different set of wires that's too far from the substation or whatever. So until they decide to help me out I'm stuck with going to my sisters if I have to grab a large file.

milksac said:
If the person viewing the website can't afford a high speed connection they probably can't afford to pay for a film or video. So you lose a portion of the audience that can't afford your services anyway. Frankly, I don't see the problem.
Click to expand...
It's not about paying. I would gladly pay but the option is not ****ing there. Period. Just because someone does not have high speed does not mean they cannot pay. It means a lot of the time that the high speed providers have no interest in providing it to us.
 
Plus what if someone happens to be on a business trip and using their cell phone as a modem to browse at old dial up speeds. They may be more than able to pay but can't access the info. Lost client.
 
flash has come a long way. They used to be slow, but with proper implementation can be as fast and reliable as standard html.

My friends company "createthe" developed the Gucci site along with marc jacobs and burburry, not to mention the backend cms is compeletely done in flash as well which is impressive.

nowadays it really comes down to matter of prefrence.
 
It's possible to offer up different versions of your flash site so that modem users get to see the content, even if of lower quality. But if you don't bother with the implementation details, checking for flash presence/version etc. then you are effectively telling your potential customer to go elsewhere since you are less likely to go the extra mile on your projects.

There are lots of people out there with money to spend that are not technically inclined. They are easily frustrated and give up and spend their money elsewhere.

And that Gucci site runs flawlessly on my old linux box running Opera and an old version of flash. Nice job.
 
Why is Flash bad?

1) It's a proprietary format. No Free (as in freedom) embedded flash plugin for Linux that works for all versions of Flash (still no Shockwave). No free (as in price or freedom) tools to create Flash content.

2) It's annoying, due mostly to bad designers. I hate going to a website to just to find out someplace's hours, only to have to sit through 20 seconds of animation before the "enter site" button appears.

3) Not all sites allow you to bypass it-- if you don't have Flash, you can't enter the site without typing in an exact link (which you likely don't know).

4) As stated before, it is slow for people on dial-up connections

5) Not compatible with screen readers, so blind or otherwise imparied people can't fully use it.

6) The text on it doesn't get indexed into search engines, so it's not good for site designers to use for their text content.

7) You can't (easily, anyway) save it for offline viewing.

I'm sure there's more, but that's just what I can think of off the top of my head...
 
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