CIF Tip Sheet - Flash
CIF Requirement - 5.6 Animation and Flash
a) All animation (e.g., Flash) files must be accompanied by (X)HTML text-based summaries or versions that allow any user to understand the essential content of the individual animation files without having to view them.
Note: Interactive features such as slide shows or photo galleries must be provided through standard (X)HTML interfaces, to which an animated or Flash interface is an alternate version.
When it is not possible to produce a standard (X)HTML version of a Flash animation, such as is the case for most interactive games, an (X)HTML text-based summary describing the function and purpose of the game will be acceptable.
b) All links to large animation files (i.e., files greater than 50 KB) must be accompanied by a label indicating the file's size.
Quite often Flash requires higher costs without corresponding better results or return on investment. While it can be an effective technology when used to improve content interactivity and present visual effects that cannot be implemented in (X)HTML, it is far too often used for the "slick" look it provides, adding nothing of value to the content.
While it is perfectly acceptable, and in many cases encouraged, that CIF-funded sites include Flash content, the accessibility of the site's core content and functionality is of the utmost importance. For this reason, it is necessary to carefully consider, from the earliest phases of a project, how a site will use Flash.
Issues to Consider When Developing With Flash
Accessibility
All core website content and functionality must be accessible.
If a Flash interface is provided, this interface must be secondary to the primary, accessible interface to the same content. If there can be no accessible interface to the same content or functionality that is provided through a Flash interface, as might be the case with an interactive Flash game, an accessible text summary is required. This text summary must allow any user to understand the essential content and outcomes of interacting with the Flash movie without having to actually view or interact with it.
Flash Components vs. Flash Websites
In most cases, it is best to avoid creating two versions of the same website, one in accessible (X)HTML and one in Flash. Instead, should Flash be required to achieve a particular aesthetic, interactive, or other effect, the progressive addition of particular Flash components is preferred. By dynamically replacing, for those browsers that are capable, the accessible version of some content and/or functionality with a Flash version, the site is enhanced for those that can take advantage of the enhancements, while the base version of the site remains accessible to all. Further, there remains only one site to build and maintain.
Where a site is fully implemented using Flash, there must also be an accessible (X)HTML version. The option to choose between the Flash and the accessible (X)HTML versions of the site must be clear. It is also beneficial to provide access to the Flash version of the site from every page of the (X)HTML version, and vice versa. In the following example, the bilingual home page of this site has obvious links to both the Flash and HMTL versions. Visitors can easily select the version that is most appropriate for their needs.
Should, for whatever reason, a fully Flash-based site need to be created, CIF strongly encourages fund recipients to work first on the accessible, (X)HTML version of the website. The (X)HTML version of the site will be the one to undergo a full technical evaluation by CIF before final funding is released.
Third-party Developers
CIF-funded websites must be maintained for three to five years (depending on the fund recipient's contribution agreement with CIF). Will the site's developers have the technical knowledge to update the site's Flash portions over that period of time? Unless an organization develops Flash in-house, it might face some difficulties when it comes time to upgrade and perform site maintenance.
Search Engines
Most search engines do not index the content of Flash movies. In the case of websites fully implemented in Flash, the entirety of the site is locked away from search engines in a single Flash interface and composed of a single Web page without any indexable text content. The Flash site will not be listed in search engines, and search engines will not be able to direct visitors to the Flash site.
Site Navigation
Some Flash designers disable the Back button in browsers. In other cases, such as a site fully implemented in Flash, clicking the browser's Back button will not take a user one step back within the Flash movie, but return the user to the previously viewed Web page, likely exiting the user from the site entirely.
As the browser's Back button is one of the most important navigational elements with a consistent behaviour that is expected by users, it is best to avoid changing or disabling this behaviour.
Bandwidth
There remain large numbers of people in Canada who access the Web via dial-up or other limited-bandwidth connections. As Flash files are very often larger than a regular (X)HTML page, they can take quite a while to load, often minutes in the case of dial-up access. It is important to consider the needs of those with slower connections, and ensure that they are also provided speedy access to the site's content and functionality.
(Note: Portions of the above were adapted from www.seoresearcher.com/seo-flash-is-evil-five-big-reasons-not-to-use-flash.htm.)
