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flash and accessibility

a closed door

I'm often asked why I don't do Flash. After all, that's where the money is. A Flash Site can easily cost several hundred thousand dollars. No, you didn't hear me wrong... Several hundred thousand dollars. And the high profile companies that want this would look great in my portfolio. Tempting as it may be at times (I've learned how to make six different delicious meals out of rice and condiments), I would not touch Flash with a ten foot cursor... and here are some reasons why:

First of all, the technology raises accessibility issues. Multimedia content cannot be rendered by aural or text-based browsers (Search Engines included) or even graphical browsers that lack the necessary plugin(s). I don't feel justified in designing Sites that will only work in a specific environment. Are clients willing to pay extra for a text-only version of their pages? It will cost extra because you're getting two Sites.

Another problem is, there is no standards-compliant method¹ for coding Flash and have it work in all the major supporting browsers. Lets not forget about Opera. In light of the Eolas vs. Microsoft patent lawsuit, Flash developers may have to recode all of their pages to get them to work in an "altered" Internet Explorer. The court's ruling in favor of Eolas could effect Mozilla (AOL/Netscape) and Opera too. Half the Sites on the Internet today could suddenly stop functioning.
 
See: Microsoft Files Appeal in Eolas Patent Case (Article published March 23, 2005)

security issues

Due to the ever increasing number of viruses that spread via infected Web pages, people are becoming distrustful of—and subsequently blocking Active X controls. If an entire Site is built in Flash, it is completely invisible (useless) to visitors with this sort of browser configuration. It's invisible to Search Engines too.

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legal issues

Laws and Legislation Pertaining to The Web

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Article 5 of the Ontarians with Disabilities Act 2001 states:

In deciding to purchase goods or services through the procurement process for the use of itself, its employees or the public, the Government of Ontario shall have regard to the accessibility for persons with disabilities to the goods or services.

Article 6 of the Ontarians with Disabilities Act 2001 states:

The Government of Ontario shall provide its internet sites in a format that is accessible to persons with disabilities, unless it is not technically feasible to do so.

The Ontario Government is currently proposing a new Act that would extend the obligation to provide accessible services and facilities to the Private Sector.

In the U.K., under Part III of the Disability Discrimination Act, Websites that offer a service must be accessible to disabled users or face the prospect of legal action.

In the United States, Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act mandates that Web content maintained by the Federal Government must be made accessible to people with disabilities.

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bad taste

Personally, I've encountered too many bad Flash Sites... Sites that use Flash for navigation or worse—for *every* bit of content with no text alternative to be found anywhere. Sometimes, I will go so far as to search the source code (usually in vain). It's easier to just hit the "Back" button.

One of the worst offenders was my local cable company. Last time I tried to use the Site, it had a lengthy flash presentation on the main page with no "skip intro" link *and* a script that kept bouncing me back to this page because I had blocked their cookies. I ended up calling them on the phone.

Most people surf the Net looking for information—and they expect it to be delivered in a reasonable amount of time. Don't make your users jump through hoops to get at it. Do you honestly think "Joe Businessman" is going to take the time to download a plugin for his browser, bookmark your Site, then come back to it when he's done configuring everything? Is he then going to wait another ten minutes for your fancy flying logo thing to load? no and no. Get real.

While Flash may be appropriate for entertainment Sites, informational Sites, in my *humble* opinion, should avoid it like the plague.

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Footnotes
 
1. 20/07/05: UFO - A content replacement script? This may, in some browsers, generate valid XHTML... but alas, non-java browsing devices won't get the script-generated content. *If* this could be accomplished server-side (as opposed to client-side) I would be more impressed. The point of writing valid XHTML is to make a Site more accessible. It's not about pleasing the Validator. Reminds me of a certain javascript hack which added the deprecated target attribute to links.

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