5 Tips for Effective Flash Use
There is a lot of debate going around about flash web design. While it can be a great thing for some websites, when it goes bad it goes very, very bad. Unfortunately, the bad websites don’t seem to know that things have gone very bad. If you have decided that flash is essential to your website, keep the following tips in mind.
Thought Mechanics can help with your Austin Flash Web Design projects.
Flash isn’t something you should do just because you can. There should be a unique concept that cannot be carried out without flash. The flash should add to your website in a valuable manner. It should feel like a natural part of the overall site concept, rather than feeling like something flashy and extra.
If the flash isn’t a unique idea just for your website, then maybe you don’t really need it to make your website a huge success. Think about this seriously before moving forward. It will save you from being one of those sites with horribly bad flash scaring away visitors (without knowing it!).
#2: Don’t make your text itsy-bitsy.
One thing that many flash sites have in common is very small text on the flash screens. This is very hard to read, especially if there is a lot of sound and motion on the screen at the same time the text is displayed. If the text is necessary then it is necessary to make it easily seen and read by your visitors.
Don’t make them squint! Bump up the font.
#3: Make sure the navigation system is easy to use and very clear to users first finding the site.
The flash may be impressive, but if they can’t figure out how to get to the more useful pages of your site that contain the information they want to find, they will go elsewhere. Enough said.
#4: Consider how many users may not have the plug-in required to load the flash page.
If it takes forever to load your site or many visitors cannot load it at all, you are going to lose more traffic than you gain. Flash operates off of a plug-in and not all of your visitors are going to have that plug-in. If you really need the flash, make sure there is an HTML version of the site for those that cannot load the flash. Make sure there is an attractive way of telling visitors that they need a plug-in or need to click to the HTML version.
#5: Set it up so visitors only see the flash intro the first time they come to the site.
It is best to do this through a cookie, rather than having the “skip this page” option. The flash will never be seen by anyone if they can skip it. You are implying that it isn’t worth watching. If it is worth creating and essential to your site, it should be viewed. Visitors just shouldn’t be forced to view it every single time they visit your site.
Flash can be a good thing for some websites, but for others it is simply unnecessary. That right there is the very first decision you have to make when deciding if you need flash, how your flash should be designed, and how you should work around certain issues that come along with a flash site.