There have been relatively few cases in which I have recommended the building of an all-flash site to any clients or potential clients. In general, it's just not a good idea, for several reasons. First of all, search engines can't dig through the content on your site if it is all contained in a Flash file, at least not as easily. Second, there are still people out there who do not have Flash available to them for one reason or another, and they would not be able to view your site at all. Finally, there's the download time involved. For those who are still on dial up connections, a Flash site is a nightmare. Of course, many of these problems are solved by making two versions of your site. If you make sure you have an option to switch to the Flash version on every page, the search engine issue no longer exists. Those that do not have Flash can simply select the non-Flash version when they first come to your site. Those with dial-up connections can do the same. The downside, of course, is that you have two sites. When first designing the site, you have to decide how similar to the Flash site you want the non-Flash site to look. It's possible to get them looking close to the same, but then you may be sacrificing those who are on dial up connections. In addition to the design work, there's the duplication of content. Not only do you have to make sure you have the same information on both sites initially, but any changes have to be replicated on both the Flash and non-Flash site. Taking all that into consideration, there are some cases in which a Flash site is expected and appropriate. If your target audience is those who are likely to have high-speed internet access, for example. If presentation is much more important than accessibility, which is occasionally the case, a Flash website would be okay. Some specific examples in which I personally feel that a Flash website might (but may not always be) appropriate include sites about comic books, contemporary artists, video games, movies, television shows, actors and actresses, bands and, of course, actual Flash animation or Flash games. Sites in which I personally feel that Flash is almost never necessary include business to business sites, ecommerce sites, news sites and any sites with vast amounts of information. So is a Flash site right for you? Chances are you'd be better off not having one, but you may be one of those rare exceptions. |
