26 Feb 2007
Just recently, I was using the web to look up some information about a new mobile device, when I innocently clicked a link to a following page and was startled (as was everyone nearby in the office) by loud, blaring music that suddenly started to issue from my computer. Arrggh! The curse of Adobe Flash had struck again!
I have come to regard Flash as the absolute bane of the internet. The technology’s chief purpose seems to be to annoy the hell out of anyone surfing the web. Is there actually a bona fide purpose for Flash, other than creating endless animated adverts to ambush the unwary? If there is, I think we should be told about it.
The reason I became subjected to the unwelcome assault on my eardrums in the first place was because I was seeking out information for an article on mobile devices, and a certain global maker of phone handsets has decided, in its wisdom, to make its web site accessible only to those with a Flash plug-in for their browser.
Until recently, I had resolutely refused to download Flash in an attempt to avoid the teeth-grindingly infuriating adverts that jump out at you from web pages. Disappointingly, my boycott became untenable because more and more organisations seem to find it impossible to create a web presence without employing Flash-based content.
This isn’t just an idle gripe of mine, it also has an effect on accessibility. A growing number of mobile devices have a screen that is just large enough to make web browsing tolerable, but how many of these have a built-in Flash player, even if one exists for the platform? And why should users have to download an extra application, simply to look at a web page? Over-reliance on Flash means that users of such devices are likely to be greeted with a screen bearing only the message “Flash player not detected”.
I also think it demonstrates bad web design to make your entire web site into one massive Flash application, in the same league as sites in the past that only worked with Internet Explorer. By all means make some content Flash-based, but you should not need anything beyond a browser to navigate around a site.
A friend of mine once showed me a prime example: a charity had a front page where a number of coloured blobs swooshed in from the side, before forming into a rotating circle, after which text labels appeared identifying which blob to click on to take you to different areas of the site. Without Flash player the site was completely inaccessible – a ludicrous situation for a page intended to disseminate information.
It’s probably too late to exile Flash to the lowest circle of technology hell, where it so rightly belongs, but users ought at least to be given greater control over whether animations, video and audio can play. At the moment, control is all in the hands of the fiends that create the content. How about an off switch, Adobe?
I can honestly say that I have never had a more 'Rich' or enhanced experience at a website that uses 'Flash'. Since Adobe bought 'Flash', they have made it more difficult to stop an animation and more difficult to uninstall the product. I have removed 'Flash' from all computers at work and at home. My workers spend less time surfing and playing games and the kids spend more time actually doing research for their homework. Smug webmasters who use and misuse 'Flash' say that no one complains - perhaps not realizing those who would complain cannot even enter their websites to give them feedback. I do not even see - or miss - the 'Flash' animation on this ITweek site...and, I can stop the .gif animation by merely clicking the Stop 'X' button on my IE browser. I could not find a way to stop or even pause 'Flash' animations until I uninstalled the 'Flash Player' program. Those IT pros and users who hate 'Flash' should not give in. Complain whenever you are give a feedback opportunity. I have been successful in getting many sites to at least remove their 'Flash Front Doors' and allow access to non-Flash users. Two site-owners advised me that their number of visitors actually increased after they removed the 'Flash Front Door' to their webpages. For an example of a great non-Flash website, visit whitehouse.gov. We CAN change the world and Flash use one site at a time. Don't just give up!
Posted by: DJ Pondo 03 Apr 2008
Oh dear, I think your rather bland world needs a little colour. They don't employ Flash because they can't use anything else, Flash skills are highly prized in the workplace and demand top-dollar, because they allow for whole new experiences that cater for the vast majority who really couldn't care less about such things, and not the web standards stiff.
There are a myriad of badly made Flash sites, but there are countless rich experiences that outsell your average HTML brochure-ware and jarring web app experiences by a bucket-load. Just ask some people in the know.
Posted by: Richard 28 Feb 2007
As I read your article, there are three animated ads blasting away on the right side of the page, making it hard to keep my attention on the article. One is Flash, the other two are animated GIFs. Perhaps we should go back to text only browsers. Personally, I've been working with Flash professionally for 7 years and have never made an annoying banner ad, so yeah, it does have a few other uses.
Posted by: Keith Peters 28 Feb 2007
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