Flash Websites: Pros & Cons
When someone first sees a website made using Flash, the phrases, “Wow”, “Oooo” and “Fancy” are usually verbalized to some extent. Sure it looks good, but is it functional?
So, when is it good, or not good, to use Flash in a website?
Well, if you run an art gallery or movie trailer website, you’re probably going to want to bedazzle your visitors visually to keep them interested in the content on your website. So, you’ll probably use Flash or something similar.
If you want to get noticed in the search engines, having a Flash website is not going to help. Why? Search engines can’t read text that is being displayed within Flash, or any images on the site, unless you insert a great deal of extra code into the back end of the website that describes what is being displayed on the screen.
Not only is the extra code “behind the scenes” helpful for the search engines, but it is also helpful for the hearing and visually impaired that rely solely on image descriptions to understand what is being displayed on a web page.
Even with going this extra step, every time you change the text on the front end of your site, the code on the back end also has to be changed, which can be an ongoing hassle depending on how you are able to get your website updated. (e.g. You rely on someone else, or you have to find time to do it yourself.)
One other item to note about Flash, is that unless the visitor to the website has installed a Flash plug-in on their computer, they won’t be able to see the website correctly until they download and install the plug-in.
Also, if you want iPhone users to view your website, and you have Flash on it, they will only be able to see the non-Flash elements of the site, as iPhones do not support Flash yet.
So, while there is the “shiny and pretty” aspect of Flash websites, there are a lot of other items to consider as well when developing a website that may contain Flash, or be built using only Flash.
If you have additional questions or concerns about Flash, please contact GnomeMedia.
