[thelist] flash accessibility/usability

[John Dowdell]

Summary: I found some questions towards the bottom. I fear this discussion
can be recast as "Persuade me to use GIFs on my site!!" Sorry, no novel
useful info below... the main theme remains "Do what thou wilt, be happy".



At 1:47 PM 2/26/2, Ben Dyer wrote:
> ...Since you deleted the rest of my post:

Yes, I do trim to illuminate rather than engage in lengthy
quote/counterquote pasttimes. I admit to failing my own personal quality
standards with this email here.... ;-)



> The bulk of Flash can pretty much be lumped into these general
> categories.

I asked you if you were posting that as your personal understanding of the
world, or if it was more like you asserting that everyone else must
categorize the world in exactly the same way. I'm still not clear of the
nature of your communication.



> So, a Flasher would need to convince me of the usefulness of the first four

Why? Why should other people invest time in trying to persuade you of
something? (I'm not being argumentative here, I just don't yet see the
value in attempting to fulfill that challenge.)



> I'm afraid I have to ask you the same question.

I passed over a few paragraphs of filler to find a question mark, and if I
could risk paraphrasing that four-line dual-parenthesized exegesis we'd end
up with "Why might someone use SWF when there's HTML?"

Is that close to what you're seeking...?

...ah, a few screens further down we get to some meat!!


> Why develop a completely Flash site when the accessible, usable
> equivalent is already available?

You're leaving out the subject... in your question, who is deciding? In the
real world a particular group decides how their own message can be best
conveyed to their own audience. By leaving the subject vague you're
enabling endless mailing list banter about who the decisionmaker is.

For the answerable "What advantages can some see in SWF vs HTM?" then
that's easy: graphics, movement and audio, sure...
_predictable_and_strong_interactivity_ is a bit stronger... live net
requests, display changes without refresh, the wet measurement of overall
audience satisfaction (ads *do* measure this!), all these are among the
reasons people use SWF today.

If you're instead asking "Why should I use Flash?" then heck, I don't know,
I don't know you or what's important to you, or your clients, or their
audiences. Do whatever you like.

Or is it "What would lead some person out there to use only SWF, and no
HTML?" Or...?




> Why design Flash navigation when the accessible, usable equivalent is
> already available?

There are similar ambiguities left in this statement, but for the
answerable "What advantages can SWF offer in nav systems?" you can have a
much faster startup time, show/hide info on demand, have a single download
for multiple graphics states, have much more compact display
instructions... there are many significant advantages available here.

For examples, see the Macromedia menuing system, generalmotors.com, compare
the SWF to JS nav systems at weather.com... compare sony.com to
universalpictures.com... hey, try checking out Chris MacGregor's
flazoom.com site, he's got the best continuing overview of interface design
with SWF.



> Why add pointless Flash elements/animations when they merely add page weight?

I might ask the same about email.... ;-)



> Why have Flash advertisements that serve to irritate your userbase?

Sorry, this seems like just more useless flamebait... if an ad irritates,
it doesn't make a sale. If a site hosts irritating ads, it doesn't draw
visitors back. Advertisiers are happily flocking to SWF because it
satisfies their customers, while more and more mainstream sites happily
host SWF ads because they help pay for the site.




Just be happy, whatever you do, that's the main thing I'm asking here.

(I've got to warn that I'll probably not read any reply more than two
screens in length... if there's some answerable point I can help with, then
it's best to cut to the chase, thanks.)

jd





John Dowdell, Macromedia Tech Support, San Francisco CA US
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