• June 5

Why Flash-based Websites are Bad

So you’re working on a brand spankin’ new website design, and the client starts asking questions like: Hey this [insert Flash site] is really cool looking, can you make my site like that? -or- Hey my [son/daughter/relative/friend/etc.] was telling me we should put this Flash thing on our website, can you do that? I believe it is your job as a knowledgeable designer and as a resource to your client to explain to them the full story behind using Flash in a website.

Here’s a brief summary from Wikipedia on the problems with Flash:

“Criticism of Adobe Flash have included questions of its usability, the problems Flash-laden pages cause for those with disabilities, security issues, limited platform compatibility, performance and compatibility issues on certain platforms, the inability for search engines to index data contained in Flash binary data, its use as a means to restrict access to content and the implementation of DRM.”

Source(s):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobe_Flash

Now for some clients that text looks like a bunch of mumbo jumbo but the basic idea behind that paragraph is that Flash was originally created as a multimedia component to be used on the web for videos, music, photos, and other rich content. Oh and did I mention that Flash doesn’t work on many mobile devices (PDAs, Itouch/Iphone, etc.), blocking potential users/customers from your site.

Here’s another example of the MTV.com website, where a Flash-based website was built, and eventually thrown out for an HTML site:

After a 9-month experiment with a Flash website and lots of complaints, MTV.com has redesigned its site in HTML. The site has also dropped the autoplaying video player embedded in the home page.

About nine months ago, we went all Flash with our Web site. It was a technical marvel and it was indeed flashy. But, it was also something of a headache for a lot of users, so we were told. Beyond the obvious new look, here are a few key things about the new site that we’re proud to deliver:

It’s faster!
This new HTML version will allow you to get to the pages that you want more quickly.

Simplified navigation!
We made the global menu easier to understand and we better organized the site, too.

No autoplaying video!
Gone is the persistent upper left corner video player that was a hallmark of the Flash site.

Source(s):
http://www.cyberjournalist.net/news/004180.php

I’m not saying that you should abandon or avoid Flash in your website designs, but you need to use it sparingly.  Use Flash to add additional graphics or media content to your site, including but not limited to: animations, advertisements, Rich Internet Applications, and other multimedia type presentations.

When you do use Flash in a website design you need to make sure that you are detecting the user’s Flash Version (if installed), NOT using embed tags (for W3C compatibiliy and accessibility), using an Object tag instead, and providing Alternate Content for users without Flash or search engines coming to your site.

So, what does all of this mean? It doesn’t mean you can’t use Flash, you just need to use Flash sparingly as a multimedia tool to enhance your website and web content. Flash should not be used to build an entire website, that is what HTML and CSS were designed for, and that is what search engines and users are expecting.

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About Author

Jon

Jon Beilke (that's me) is a freelance designer and photographer that likes to post sporadically on his blog (www.moongrabber.com). He offers Minnesota Web Design, Graphic Design, and Photography Services in Minnesota through his portfolio/business, JB Design and Photo (jbdesignandphoto.com).


  • I more or less totally agree with you here. Although there are some sites that flash works well on, but generally HTML is the best tool for the job.

    As Jerry points out, there are also issues relating to SEO. You can get around this by putting html into the noscript tag for search engines to read.
  • This is a very good point, and something that I discuss with all of my clients.
  • Most of the time it is the technical unaware (managers) that have seen something cool and now want it, too. But I think, too that in most cases flash is not necessary and makes more problems than solutions...

    regards

    Mike
  • I would say, unless you are a very well known company, you should stay away from flash based websites, the cons outweigh the pros big time!
  • excellent post. People need to understand that search engines cannot read flash whatsoever. If you want google to rank yourwebsite you need to give it some readable content.
  • O.k. folks, things have just gotten a little different.
    Google can now index flash. I just read this:
    http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2004/09/07/go...

    And it looks like flash can be indexed now. Although from a point of loading times etc I would still prefer HTML
  • Jon
    Google has always had a limited ability to index text from a flash file thanks to the Adobe Flash Search Engine SDK, which will take a flash file and spit out and text in a big jumbled mess.

    The most recent development is that Google is also able to recognize links within Flash files, this is definitely a step in the right direction, but it means that all of your content is indexed and thrown into 1 page that can really hurt your search engine score.
  • Lets not jump the gun here. HTML text is still king. Flash is nowhere near as crawlable as text.
  • This is a very biased and somewhat uneducated point of view - typical of flash haters.

    I've been working with flash for 10 years now, and seen it grow from a very basic timeline animation tool to a fully fledged dynamic RIA environment.

    It is one of the most powerful tools available for eLearning, and provides some of the most engaging user experiences.

    There are times, obviously when flash is not the best solution for a website - but there are many others when it is.

    As with all design, you should assess each job on the merits of it audience and intended use.

    With regard to accessibility, flash can be made just as accessible as other web technologies - and in some cases more so.

    Oh, and flash can be made to be easily indexed by search engines....
  • Jon
    While I do agree that the article may be slightly biased, it's biased for good reason. For every 1 good Flash-based website there are 10-20 terrible sites.

    I can't complain too much as I work with a lot of clients that are having problems with a flash-based website they had designed for them. Flash can be made to be indexed by search engines, but it's not necessarily easy, and the results can be unpredictable.

    The other problem with Flash can be the large file sizes and download times. I've seen large flash sites that take forever to load with loads of images, videos, and animations. Oh and did I mention it doesn't work or can be unpredictable on mobile browsers (e.g. IPhone).
  • For every 1 good HTML site there are THOUSANDS of bad ones.....

    Basically the problem is ubiquitous with all web technologies - and as I said already you should always use the correct one for the product you have to deliver.

    With this in mind, the no-flash-on-iphone isn't a big issue. I don't need to browse sites that are big multimedia experiences on my iPhone - that's not what mobile browsing is for. So no flash on phones isn't an issue.

    Furthermore, large files need not be an issue - and certainly these are campfire tales from the bad old days of flash and everyone on dial up - but again we're back to good flash sites vs bad and good programming vs bad.
  • Jon
    Large files are still an issue! I know many internet users that are still using dial up or comparable connections, not to mention that anyone visiting on a mobile browser probably doesn't have the greatest connection either.

    Even with a speedy DSL connection at home some flash sites are painful to load, and as I covered in my previous article on "How fast does your site load?" your site needs to load in around 4 seconds or less to keep your visitors from giving up and going elsewhere. Many of the Flash (and other new web technology sites!) that I see take much longer than 4 seconds to load (I've seen AJAX sites take well over 30 seconds to load).

    I agree to some extent on the IPhone part. I don't need to see some big multimedia production on my IPhone, but if a site doesn't provide some sort of alternate content I get nothing (norobots.co.uk for example).
  • depends on the site.other sites are so irritating specially when it loads too long.

    NaldzGraphicss last blog post..300+ Best of the Best High Quality Abstract Brushes in Photoshop
  • One thing i know for sure if sites load slow people just leave. They also hate sites with ads that slow site down.

    You want site to load fast even if they use dial up instead of dsl so you get people to see what site has to offer. It is so hard getting people to your site so you might as well make sure they stay long enough to see it.
  • the problem is ubiquitous with all web technologies - and as I said already you should always use the correct one for the product you have to deliver.

    With this in mind, the no-flash-on-iphone isn’t a big issue. I don’t need to browse sites that are big multimedia experiences on my iPhone
  • Jon
    I totally agree with you in that we don't need big multimeda experiences on the iphone (or other portables), but when a site doesn't offer any sort of alternative is when we have problems.

    There are still quite a few big name sites that are built completely in Flash, with no alternate content for the IPhone (or anything else that can't use/doesn't have Flash).

    And just because a large portion of the general browsing population has Flash installed, it doesn't mean they have the latest version, or that your Flash detection script will work properly (hate sites that tell me my Flash is out of date when I'm using the latest release).
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