>>Is it overly irrational for me to put my foot down when it comes to flash?
>>Or should I let him just produce it and just roll with it?
>>Is it crazy to want everything on the site that affects the
>> page to be editable by a plain text file?
As someone who is a web designer, I think you have to balance several
things.
First off, I think Flash is really cool, and I like to use it when I can
because it makes for a really cool site. However, on several occasions I
have realized that the use of Flash has actually hurt the usability of the
site while only feeding my ego and desire to use the latest tools so I could
be proud. Sometimes, I've let the graphics overshadow the basic usefulness
of the site. It sucks when I've had to throw away good work because it
didn't fit the grand plan.
I usually find that Flash is a very bad choice for navigation. It is cool,
and does let me achieve my vision. The problem is that it doesn't work for
a high percentage of folks, no matter what Macromedia says. And the same
thing can be said of JavaScript. I've learned to stay away from both.
If he _must_ use Flash, you should only consider it where the lack of an
installed Flash player will not hurt the use of the site. The same for
JavaScript. If the site can't function for a basic browser, with no Flash
player, and _ALL_ scripting turned off, then the site is a poor design.
Having said that, since the artist is a volunteer, and since artists want to
be expressive, you need to allow him a certain amount of freedom. It's a
good idea to make use of his Flash talents, but don't require the site to
use Flash. A good Flash site looks good even with a basic browser setup.
You are 100% correct to be cautious about it's use, but see if you can give
him a place to apply his talents.
Test, Test, Test. Get several folks on different browser setups to try the
site and video tape them if you can. You'll be amazed at what you find. I
had a site that I sweated over and thought I had it perfect. A 60-year old
just stared at the screen trying to figure it out. I realized _I_
understood the site, as did my techie friend, but an older novice just
froze. I re-designed the site to use "file folder tabs" as the interface,
and my 60-year old novice navigated with ease.
I hated tossing my beautiful interface (it was so cool) but I could see it
just didn't work. Testing is everything. Everything...
Ken Elliott
=====================
-----Original Message-----
From: slug@nks.net [mailto:slug@nks.net] On Behalf Of Christopher Hotchkiss
Sent: Monday, March 21, 2005 5:36 PM
To: slug@nks.net
Subject: [SLUG] Web Dev/Standards Question
Hail fellow SLUGites,
I have a question regarding web standards. I volunteered to put together a
site for the USF Honors and I am having some difficulties coming to a
consensus with the graphic artist. Basically we are having a large
disagreement about the use of Macromedia Flash in the site. He is arguing
that the use of Flash is not a problem and it should be used as a
significant portion of the site navigation. My big compliant however is that
Javascript and/or XHTML with CSS would do a lot better and be more
maintainable.
What do you guys think?
Is it overly irrational for me to put my foot down when it comes to flash?
Or should I let him just produce it (if I can get something out of
him) and just roll with it?
Is it crazy to want everything on the site that affects the page to be
editable by a plain text file?
Thanks for any comments and/or advice.
-- Christopher Hotchkiss (813)960-9273 http://www.post227.org ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This list is provided as an unmoderated internet service by Networked Knowledge Systems (NKS). Views and opinions expressed in messages posted are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of NKS or any of its employees.----------------------------------------------------------------------- This list is provided as an unmoderated internet service by Networked Knowledge Systems (NKS). Views and opinions expressed in messages posted are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of NKS or any of its employees.
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