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Flash 1 - Beginning

Class ends Sunday June 29, at 5pm

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The Perils of Relying on Flash Alone

While the majority of web users have a browser with the Flash Player, not everyone does, and those who do may not have the most recent version.

If you publish Flash 11 content, some users will not be able to see it without first downloading the current FlashPlayer.

The first option of the Publish Settings dialog allows you to publish content compatible with prior versions of Flash. I recommend never publishing content in the newest version (unless it offers some critical feature you need) NOTE: Only FlashPlayer v. 9 and higher support ActionScript 3.0.

Regardless of the version of your Flash content, some users won't have the right Flash Player. Flash Detection is a process of serving up the SWF only to those browsers with the correct version of the Flash Player installed, and alternate HTML content to those without:

Flash Detection

To easily implement Flash Detection, check the "Detect Flash Version" option on the HTML section of the Publish Settings dialog (it will automatically detect for the version of Flash specified on the Flash tab). The Detection routine relies on the swfobject.js JavaScript file (which it automatically generates) along with an HTML page containing both the SWF and alternate HTML content:

NOTE: if you build your HTML page with Dreamweaver and add a SWF, Dreamweaver uses a similar detection routine.

Be sure to upload this HTML page, the SWF published from the FLA file, AND the swfobject.js file. It is recommended that you edit the alternate HTML (located on lines 39-44 above) to be something more meaningful than the "Get Flash" button that Flash automatically creates (just about the only reason someone would see this is if they are using an iPhone or iPad which cannot download browser plug-ins). You should strive to provide as much of the Flash functionality and content as practical, in HTML format here (so users without Flash at least know what the page is about, and can get something out of it, rather than feel like they've reached a roadblock). I do also include a statement alerting them that they are missing out on the Flash content, along with a download link, so if they simply have Flash disabled or have an older Flash Player, they can decide to take action to see the full content.

Flash and search engines

Despite what many old-school developers claim, Google and other search engines do index the text content inside a SWF, but it's usually not associated with tags like <h1>, that lend importance or context. Fortunately, when you author more meaningful HTML alternate content than the stock "This page requires Flash" prompt, that content is exposed to the search engines even when most humans see the SWF! That content can and should be search engine optimized (i.e. include a meaningful <h1>, with alt attributes on <img> elements, etc.), making your Flash-based web site as SEO friendly as any HTML site!

TIP: to search only SWF content using Google, follow your search terms with "filetype:swf"