links for 2007-02-28
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Standards-compliant image replacement based on Flash and Javascript.
Archive | February, 2007
Semantic Flash
I’m often having to explain to clients and web designers why having a fully Flash-based site may not be the best fit for their business. However, I’ve always felt that there are many wonderful things about Flash, and that it can make a site much better when used judiciously.
Dan Mall has published an article in A List Apart about semantic Flash, with examples of appropriate uses of the technology within the confines of standards-compliant sites. “Slowly but surely,” he writes, “Flash is finding its way into the standardista’s toolkit, and it’s happening in a very exciting way.”
This is exciting stuff indeed; it’s great to see ALA and the standards community embracing Flash as another tool in the web development toolbox. However, Mr. Hall’s example is very subtle (dynamically creating “slippery floor” type reflections on album covers), and may not even be recognized by site visitors as Flash. In most cases, when we are asked for Flash development it is because the client wants an over-the-top experience that feels more like TV than the web. This is exactly the type of implementation that leads to “bad Flash” (no page links, search engine obscurity, poor accessibility, etc.) and breaking with web standards.
I don’t know that there is a viable solution to this problem other than to keep trying to educate clients and designers on the nature of the web medium.
links for 2007-02-23
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Gene Smith on the design of the new Microsoft Office UI.
