Knowledge Base
Flash - New Technology That Slows Down Users
In recent years the web appears to have become trendier and more multimedia oriented than in its early days. While in some domains the new technologies work and prove successful in most cases they do not add to the user experience, on the contrary, they just make browsing the Internet more difficult and time consuming. Not everyone has T1 internet, their connections simply aren't fast enough to keep up with the new technologies.
Current Issues With Flash And JavaScript
Flash has been the "releaser of energy" for all the trendy web designers on the Internet because it allowed them to express more of what they wanted to say. Soon, Flash had literally taken over thousands of websites. While Flash can be successfully used in web sites with profiles in music, multimedia, online games, interactive activities etc, on most sites Flash is used for the sake of using it and raises serious issues for users:
- Most users are still - despite what many believe - on slow Internet connections such as dial up. Flash is not bandwidth friendly and many designers do not create Flash files bearing this issue in mind. Users on slow connections have to wait a fair bit of time before the web page with Flash loads.
- There are still many users who do not have the Flash player installed and they are not willing to or do not know how to do it.
It is not fair to exclude these users from using a website for the sake of design. Design should aid users in finding the information they seek not slow them down in doing so.
Reaction Of Audience To Flash
There are mixed opinions when it comes to Flash web sites. However, the diversity of opinions does not lie in what Flash is or what it can do but rather in the circumstances people happen to encounter it:
- When average people are presented a Flash website they are compelled by the visuals, motion and sound. They appreciate its "good looks" and we cannot deny the fact that Flash design looks good.
- When average people look for information through search engines, links from other sites or their own bookmarks, Flash annoys them. It makes them wait an extra 1, 2 or 5 minutes before they get to the information they seek and they're likely to move to another site where that does not happen.
Despite the above, people still want Flash websites because they have seen their competitors, friends or family have Flash websites and want to have good looking sites like them, too. However, they overlook the fact that when searching for information on the web they would probably skip a Flash website.
Is Flash Used As A Substitute For Content?
Even with the current popularity of Flash, most content-oriented sites are very unlikely to use it. It is in fact the sites that do not have real content that employ Flash in the attempt to fill the content gap. Content is what makes users come to websites and what makes them come back. If a website has no real useful content then it is unsuccessful despite its good looks. However, if Flash is the content (such as online games, jokes, maps, graphs etc) then it is as useful as any other unique content on the web.
Because of the way Flash is used by many designers, Flash based web sites cannot accommodate large amounts of text. Flash is ultimately inflexible and unnecessarily adds to the weight of the page. Most Flash designers end up putting the content in a small box in the corner of the screen in order to accommodate the Flash design of the page.
Furthermore, alternate browsers have not reached the point where they can properly read Flash files. Flash files often do not contain just images in motion but also text. Screen readers, voice browsers and other alternate browsers cannot retrieve such information.
Flash is often used because it's visually compelling. Visually disabled users are unable to enjoy or appreciate the visuals and the animation like average people do. Special care must be taken when designing with Flash and considering accessibility issues.
Pointers For Flash Designers
- Do not create website entirely in Flash. You will shut out a big percentage of your users. If you must, then a HTML version of the site is preferred as well.
- Do use Flash as a support for content, not the other way around. Displaying content should be your primary objective and Flash should be used only if it helps you in doing so.
- Do not write text as part of the Flash file. Search engines but especially users will have trouble retrieving it.
- Use Flash wisely and in reasonable amounts. Flash can be a nice design addition without having it interfere with how users come into contact with information.
- Optimise Flash files as much as possible. Keeping size of Flash files to a minimum you make the waiting for your users less time consuming.