Website Design Forum - Help with a new site

Author

Help with a new site

sian45@hotmail.com

2006-06-03, 7:28 pm

Hello, I'm calling for some help with a website I'm a total beginner
but fast at learning, I'm attempting to design a website (I'm doing it
in Dreamweaver) and I'd like to use a flash movie on all the pages, are
there implications in that and what are they? Do we assume that most
people will be able to view it? Is there a site with statistics that
show how many people have slow connections and how many have fast?
And finially, is there a high quality alternative to flash?

Thank you for you help in advance

Adrienne Boswell

2006-06-03, 7:28 pm

Gazing into my crystal ball I observed sian45@hotmail.com writing in
news:1149157965.374123.146770@i39g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

> Hello, I'm calling for some help with a website I'm a total beginner
> but fast at learning, I'm attempting to design a website (I'm doing it
> in Dreamweaver) and I'd like to use a flash movie on all the pages, are
> there implications in that and what are they? Do we assume that most
> people will be able to view it? Is there a site with statistics that
> show how many people have slow connections and how many have fast?
> And finially, is there a high quality alternative to flash?
>
> Thank you for you help in advance
>
>

A lot of people have Flash turned off. I am one of them. I have it
turned off because most of the Flash I see is spinning, moving, gyrating
adverts. Flash does have some very real world uses, but it has been
terribly abused.

Most search engines cannot index Flash content, and there are
accessibility issues involved as well.

Always include a non-flash alternative, like a static image, in case the
user does not have Flash available.

--
Adrienne Boswell at Home
Arbpen Web Site Design Services
http://www.cavalcade-of-coding.info
Please respond to the group so others can share

Doug Laidlaw

2006-07-10, 7:41 pm

Adrienne Boswell wrote:

> Gazing into my crystal ball I observed sian45@hotmail.com writing in
> news:1149157965.374123.146770@i39g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:
>
>
> A lot of people have Flash turned off. I am one of them. I have it
> turned off because most of the Flash I see is spinning, moving, gyrating
> adverts. Flash does have some very real world uses, but it has been
> terribly abused.
>
> Most search engines cannot index Flash content, and there are
> accessibility issues involved as well.
>
> Always include a non-flash alternative, like a static image, in case the
> user does not have Flash available.
>
Isn't a total beginner going for Flash trying to run before he can walk?
Personally, I agree with you, Adrienne. Flash can't save a badly designed
Web site, and a well-designed one doesn't need it (except perhaps for
demonstrating something that moves.) A site that I had to go to a lot uses
Flash for the navigation menu, with no alternative.

To the OP, what you want your users to do is linger a while and explore your
site. Too many moving things put them off. Flash needs to be a help in
delivering your message. If it doesn't do that, leave it out. And I think
that Flash should be confined to the Home page. It slows up loading the
pages, and your viewers will get tired of waiting, and go elsewhere. Your
site is there to sell your message, not to show how clever you are.

On the same theme, one authority suggested that you restrict animated GIFs
to 3 to 5 cycles, for the same reason. It puts them off while they are
trying to concentrate on the static text.

Doug.
--
Be wisely worldly, be not worldly wise.
- Francis Quarles.

Doug Laidlaw

2006-07-10, 7:41 pm

Doug Laidlaw wrote:

> Adrienne Boswell wrote:
>
> Isn't a total beginner going for Flash trying to run before he can walk?
> Personally, I agree with you, Adrienne. Flash can't save a badly designed
> Web site, and a well-designed one doesn't need it (except perhaps for
> demonstrating something that moves.) A site that I had to go to a lot
> uses Flash for the navigation menu, with no alternative.
>
> To the OP, what you want your users to do is linger a while and explore
> your
> site. Too many moving things put them off. Flash needs to be a help in
> delivering your message. If it doesn't do that, leave it out. And I
> think
> that Flash should be confined to the Home page. It slows up loading the
> pages, and your viewers will get tired of waiting, and go elsewhere. Your
> site is there to sell your message, not to show how clever you are.
>
> On the same theme, one authority suggested that you restrict animated GIFs
> to 3 to 5 cycles, for the same reason. It puts them off while they are
> trying to concentrate on the static text.
>
> Doug.

If you want to see how NOT to do it, have a look at
http://www.jacksons-of-piccadilly.com/ The Home page has no visible links.
Explore with your mouse. The quote is a mouseover. Click on that, and you
come to a picture of a tea plant. Each flower is a link, but there is
nothing to tell you so. There is no text at all - you have to work it out
for yourself.

It is elegantly done, but not a very good advertisement for their teas.

But I am looking at it from a man's point of view. A woman might prefer it
that way, and it is women who buy tea. That is another point - who is your
potential market?

Doug.
--
Dogmatism is only puppyism come to full growth.

Adrienne Boswell

2006-07-10, 7:41 pm

Gazing into my crystal ball I observed Doug Laidlaw
<laidlaws@dougshost.invalid> writing in
news:nktul3-pv5.ln1@dougshost.douglaidlaw.net:

> Doug Laidlaw wrote:
>
>
> If you want to see how NOT to do it, have a look at
> http://www.jacksons-of-piccadilly.com/ The Home page has no visible
> links. Explore with your mouse. The quote is a mouseover. Click on
> that, and you come to a picture of a tea plant. Each flower is a
> link, but there is nothing to tell you so. There is no text at all -
> you have to work it out for yourself.
>
> It is elegantly done, but not a very good advertisement for their
> teas.
>
> But I am looking at it from a man's point of view. A woman might
> prefer it that way, and it is women who buy tea. That is another
> point - who is your potential market?
>
> Doug.

Yup, that's pretty bad, here's another one. Here's
http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/200...res/index.html.

If your visitor can't navigate, what good does the prettiest anything do?
Nothing.

--
Adrienne Boswell at Home
Arbpen Web Site Design Services
http://www.cavalcade-of-coding.info
Please respond to the group so others can share

Doug Laidlaw

2006-07-10, 7:41 pm

Adrienne Boswell wrote:

> Gazing into my crystal ball I observed Doug Laidlaw
> <laidlaws@dougshost.invalid> writing in
> news:nktul3-pv5.ln1@dougshost.douglaidlaw.net:
>
>
> Yup, that's pretty bad, here's another one. Here's
> http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/200...res/index.html.
>
> If your visitor can't navigate, what good does the prettiest anything do?
> Nothing.
>
Yes, I forgot about navigation. I am self-taught, so I am throwing in what
I learned for the benefit of the OP. At the moment I have a page with no
exit except the back button. It needs a return link. I think that they
said something about no more than 5 pages in one loop.

Doug.
--
I'm only a beer teetotaller, not a champagne teetotaller.
- G.B. Shaw.

SteveSomebody

2006-07-10, 7:41 pm

Hey it's not just women who buy Tea....

My view (FWIW) when using Flash, think about appropriateness. If the
Flash adds something to the message, by all means use it. Don't use if
for mystery navigation (e.g. a picture of a tea plant - even if it's a
really beautiful picture of a tea plant)

Steve
www.fontmadness.com
"Big Black Nemesis"
>
> But I am looking at it from a man's point of view. A woman might prefer it
> that way, and it is women who buy tea. That is another point - who is your
> potential market?
>