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GraphicsAcademy.com > Tutorials > Should I Use Flash?

Should I Use Flash?

For the last few years, there has been quite a fashion in building sites using Flash. There many great features built-in to Flash, and some compelling websites have been produced using the technology, so it might seem a no-brainer to use it. As is often the case, things are not quite so simple...

There are both advantages and disadvantages to use Flash. So, in this article we will look at both.

Advantages:

Flash sites can be highly interactive, and it is easy to incorporate sophisticated multimedia, animation, graphics and sound.
Flash files display consistently in all web-browsers (or atleast all web-browsers) which have a Flash player. You do not need to worry about oddities and pecularities of particular web-browsers, or fight against incompatibilites in different browsers' implementations of HTML, CSS and JavaScript.

Disadvantages:

Not all users have the Flash player, or at least not the current version. While it is true that most Microsoft Windows and Apple Mac users do have a Flash player, it may not be the current one, and "most users" is not the same as "all users". If users then have to download the player to view your site, it interrupts their flow (they may even never return). Additionally, you should be aware that the Flash player may not be available to all users - in particular, users browsing from an iPhone or iPad will not be able to use your site.
Although Adobe have released information and even code allowing search engines to read Flash files. Some search engine's crawlers and spiders still can not read Flash, and therefore would not be able to index your content. As a result, if you use Flash, your website's search engine rankings could be negative affected, and your levels of traffic may suffer.
Flash content can take time to load - particularly large and complex Flash files - and users, especially those with a slow internet connection, may not be prepared to wait.

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