What is Flash?


Flash  or  Adobe Flash refers to a program which creates multimedia content such as games and movies and enables web pages to come to life with a lot of colour and creativity. Web pages created using Flash technology are often far more interactive and colourful than simple html web page designs. However, while Flash does offer a great deal to the creative process of a website, it is not without its disadvantages.  

The Disadvantages of Incorporating Flash Designs 

  • Websites with Flash designs may experience incompatibility with certain web browsers.
  • Flash designs often require the user to have the latest version of Flash plug-ins to be compatible.
  • Search engines are often unable to process and rank a website which predominantly uses Flash designs. Thus a text only or html web page design may need to be produced to calculate SEO.
  • Flash designs often take longer to load than simple html web pages.
  • Flash designs are widely used in web advertisements, and thus some browsers may contain tools to block Flash content from appearing.
  • Not all web browsers may have a flash player installed and so it may limit the number of clients who can actually view your web page design.
  • Websites created using only Flash designs often contain very small fonts thus making them very hard to read.

Maintain a balance with Flash Designs

It is not uncommon for some web designers to get carried away with Flash designs. Remember a web design that is too busy with web pages full of graphics, animated banners and other Flash elements can be off putting to some clients, especially if your web page takes forever to download all of these unnecessary elements. The key is to understand your key demographic and cater to what would best attract and maintain their attention. Strike an appropriate balance between Flash animation and informative web content.