Oct 16 2007
The Flash Debate Resumes
The debate surrounding Flash-based sites is a hot topic that just won’t go away. A web writing business called Webcopyplus released some web poll results earlier this year, which indicated 93% of web users favour speed and readability over appearance when visiting websites.
The company’s web content expert, Rick Sloboda, suggested web developers obstruct Internet usability by unleashing Flash-based sites, specifically Flash intros. In fact, he went on to say:
Most Flash intros are not created with the visitor and business in mind, but rather as an opportunity to showcase a programmer’s abilities.
He was quoted in Backbone magazine and it sparked all sorts of animated debates, including one on the Ubuntu Forums, which drew all sorts of comments from almost 3,000 visitors.
I think that Flash brings many problems to web sites, such as requiring users to not only have it installed on the computer, but have the minimum version installed to properly display the site. Flash should be reserved to advertising where if it doesn’t appear correctly, it won’t take away from the web site usability.