Wednesday, October 14, 2009

7 Drawbacks of Flash

By Nick Martin

Adobe Flash is being widely used in this modern world, as it can handle unmatched interactivity, protect source code and also well-suit for animation and media. Moreover, it can add interactive elements or movements to make a vivid website. However, there are various reasons for us not to recommend flash to all of you, when you need to build an entire website or want your main website functionally within Flash.

It Is Not Search-Engine-Friendly Enough: Only if developers include many steps in extra during configuration of the flash movies will Google and Yahoo search engine be able to read the Flash files. Other than that, there are restrictions in which links can the search engines crawl or index. The engines may not be able to pick up the text contained in the flash, lowering the probability for your potential customers to reach you. However, Google keeps on to suggest using Flash.

Immobile: We are now in a mobile society, thus, it is very upset for the cell phone users to know they can't browse some websites as it's entirely flash based. The Flash is designed for working with desktop/ laptop computers but not iPhones. Notwithstanding, Apple is trying to discuss with Adobe to incorporate Flash, the deal seems indefinite.

Lacking the Support For Maintaining Cross Platform: inserting Flash is not as easy as adding a HTML tags to a document. Some browsers need JavaScript support to load the page. There are many peculiarities that you will find when integrating elements of Flash into your website.

Player of Flash Required: In order to view Flash animations, new computers need to be equipped with Flash Player which is downloaded from Adobe's website. People will not get access to some potentially valuable content on your page if they choose not to install the Player.

Difficulty To Access: People who have vision impairments or who are using text reader without MAJOR modifications cannot access Adobe Flash. Without modifications, Flash sites cannot be read. Flash is not Section 508 Compliant which most government and higher education websites are equipped with.

High Cost: Flash is not a cheap software, it costs $700. There are many additional costs like those for maintenance and for updates. These create a huge fortune for small enterprises and web developers. HTML is a much better choice in terms of cost.

The utility of Flash technology is undeniable. However, to make the right choice when developing and creating websites, one must pay close attention to the constraints present.

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