Adobe Flash is a great tool. Web sites that are all flash are snazzy. They sing, dance, and dazzle. But, like triple chocolate brownies smothered in chocolate syrup, they have their place. You can’t have those brownies for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day or you’ll have a problem!
Over the past few weeks, I visited both of the following restaurants. They are my old favorites! I noticed that they both use Flash, and I thought I would use them as examples here. Then, I’ll offer some Flash rules that will help you balance your Flash happiness with Internet realities. Flash sites are generally more expensive than plain old HTML sites, so it’s disappointing to realize that most Flash sites have more problems than their HTML counterparts.
Mandarin Restaurant
My favorite restaurant, anywhere, ever, is the Mandarin Restaurant in Bountiful, Utah. On a typical Friday night, a 2-hour wait is expected unless you arrive when they open at 4:30pm. However, it is always worth the wait and we’re pleased but not surprised when we see local celebrities eating there as well.
Mandarin Restaurant
navigation - no Flash
I have a pretty poor sense of direction, and a couple of weeks ago I was going to meet my husband at the restaurant. I pulled out my iPhone and brought up their Web site, then used the phone’s map program to get directions. It was pretty easy, because they kept their site navigation out of Flash. Flash doesn’t work on iPhones.
My husband was actually pretty impressed because I made it and I made really good time (we usually go with some friends and they drive - and there had been an accident and I had to take an alternate route - those are my excuses for not knowing how to get to my favorite restaurant).
Cafe Rio
My second favorite restaurant is Cafe Rio - a rambunctious place famous for its long lines and barbecued pork enchiladas. After a doctor’s appointment when I had to have a “fasting” test, I wanted to stop by Cafe Rio without waiting in its line - so I decided to call and order take-out. I went to their web site from my iPhone, and it was one big blank spot! Flash doesn’t work on iPhones.
I have to admit, I was annoyed. All I wanted was the phone number of the restaurant by the doctor’s office, and the web site wouldn’t even come up. And I was hungry - and when I get hungry I get very grumpy!
I was able to go to the map program and search for the locations and find the number that way, but it was not as easy as I’d hoped it would be. However, I ordered the take-out and went to the restaurant and had a yummy enchilada, so this story had a good ending.
Rule #1: Don’t ever put your site navigation in Flash
Cafe Rio navigation - it’s all Flash
Search engines aren’t very good at reading flash. Visitors’ browsers sometimes don’t have Adobe Flash installed. If you put your site navigation into Flash, some visitors and most search engines won’t be able to reach the navigation, and your site is worthless to them.
Yes, it’s possible to offer an alternate site with navigation for people who don’t have Flash, but don’t waste your time. You can still be creative: it is possible to create truly awesome site navigation using plain old HTML/JavaScript/CSS, and you won’t have to give no-flash visitors a watered-down version of your site.
Rule #2: Don’t put your contact information in Flash
Google Local Search results
for “Cafe Rio”
Contact information on your site is used by search engines for local search results - you know, the kind where you show up on a map. It’s also used by people who come to your site. Keep it “out in the open” and easy to access - your header or footer would be a great place for it.
Rule #3: Don’t put your site content in Flash
Cafe Rio’s enchilada menu
When you embed your restaurant’s menu or catering information in a Flash file, you’re locking out people who want to get to that information. You’re locking out search engines who want to help people find your site. You’re throwing away potential traffic.
When you put your site content into crazy fonts, you’re also asking for trouble. It’s cute, but it’s hard to read. Internet visitors are generally in a hurry to get what they are looking for and get out. If it seems like too much trouble, they’re just going to leave.
Rule #5: DO use Flash to offer something interactive that you couldn’t do with plain HTML
I know that I just recommended “Don’t” a bunch of times where Flash is concerned, but there are some things that Flash and other plugins can do a lot better than HTML. Videos are a perfect example. Presentations and tutorials do well in plugins as well. Maps and other interactive applications can also go into Flash, but I have noticed a trend: the big-money web sites have been replacing their Flash apps with dynamic HTML apps lately.
Rule #6: Make sure your Flash apps are easy to use
It’s a heck of a lot easier to make a difficult-to-use app in Flash than it is in HTML. So test it - watch your Grandma and your 5-year-old nephew try to use it. Pay attention to the “mistakes” they make, because really it’s not their mistake; it’s the Flash app’s mistake for being hard to use. Internet users aren’t forgiving, and they are always in a hurry, so make things easy on them.