Flash versus HTML : a real debate ?

5-6 years ago there was the phenomena of "Flashmania" all over the web. Big corporate names, especially in the car industry, were all going for full Flash websites. But where have they all gone ? It looks like most of these companies are now back to the old HTML way of doing things. What happened ? Well it looks like things have just been put into place.

HTML : quick end efficient delivery of information

Most developers and designers will now agree that if the key objective is to deliver information quickly and effectively to a wide audience then HTML is the way to go.

When you are looking for the address of the nearest take-away in your area, you are not really ready to wait for that 5 minute Flash intro to end, you want the information here and now. To an extent you don't even need any graphics at all. You would be perfectly happy with the phone number written in huge ugly bold "Times New Roman" on a white background.

If your website is regularly updated with new content that needs to be searchable, copied and pasted, crawlable by the search engines and easily viewable in a standard way then you should use HTML without any remorse.


Flash : the multimedia experience

Flash should be used wherever the user is ready and happy to experience a multimedia experience.

Unlike HTML, Flash is a tool that gives a lot of freedom during the creative process : the layout doesn't need to fit into grids as with tables or CSS, sound can be easily incorporated in a Flash animation without having to worry about browser compatibility and big animations can be streamed so no need to wait for it to have fully downloaded before watching it.

The downside to this freedom of creation is that it might require some patience to learn to interact with the navigation system of a particular Flash website. A Flash application or website is a world of its own so you need to learn to converse with it. If you make the effort to get into the spirit of the Flash application, or intro, and learn to interact with it, you will be rewarded as it will sometimes unveil some hidden treasures.

In a way we can say that Flash will more likely direct the user in a multidimensional surfing experience with a richer interactive environment. Flash websites will impress your senses and stimulate your imagination, it will lead you along the exciting path of the multimedia experience.

The right tool for the right job

At the end it looks like the debate of Flash vs HTML has eased down and that there is no real conflict here. Flash has evolved to a very mature level. Actionscript especially has been evolving rapidly in the recent years. Flash is not only just a "web" tool anymore. Flash is the best choice to create multimedia interactivities, interactive presentations, activities for the e-learning industry and web games. Although it can still be a valid choice to create a full website I will personally still choose HTML when it comes to delivering information quickly and painlessly to the end user.

Calwen
flashvalley.com