One encounters more and more Flash websites these days and generally they are more annoying than adding value. Even if the site looks presentable, a common complaint I have is that one cannot cut and paste the text to find out more. For example, an address is given but no map, I want to cut and paste the address into google , so I can work out where to go, but no can do….. I have to retype the whole thing…. grr.
This inspired me to look for some lists on why Flash is bad (rather than writing up my own), and it was educational. Definitely some mis-information out there. (For example, it seems that search engines can index Flash - so do they? and how do they prioritise the content? some arguments there). There is still an accessibility issue. My conclusion is that while I acknowledge that yes one could make a good flash website, most flash designers don’t and one has to ask why would you make your whole site flash???. Flash has it’s place where animations would help the user experience, but otherwise why would you do it?
Here is a snapshot of arguments. It seems it is popular to have 5 reasons - here are a variety, some similar
- 5-reasons-not-to-use-flash
- five-big-reasons-not-to-use-flash - some possibly not so valid, some problems
- A 2004 writeup, many still valid comments - skip intro!
Wikipedia has some notes on the criticisms, also mentions security vulnerabilities and possible performance issues.
Of course, one should also point to some articles on how to use Flash sensibly: A modern approach to Flash search engine optimisation. So okay but then why do flash websites seem to not have good search engine ranking? Here is an old article, but perhaps it is still valid. The Search guild have a tool that purports to show you what the search engines see of a flash website - not much it seems. This 2005 article has a fairly indepth write up on how to search engine optimise your flash website, assuming you have to have one!
Finally a suggested good use of flash: A good use of flash.