是不是应该选择Flash? - HTML与FLASH可用性与用户参与

在博物馆站点开发者面临的许多挑战中，可用性和参与性名列前茅。许多开发者采用macromedia公司的Flash作为有力的开发工具，他相比 HTML更具交互能力和多媒体特性。这篇论文对比评价了同一站点的Flash和HTML版本，集中比较了每一版本的用户目的信息搜索，行为和反映。我们然后比较了两个版本的操作阻力，任务完成时间，用户满意度和定性访谈。 测试发现了两个版本站点在青少年群体和成年群体之间的显著差异。结果颇有价值地显示了Flash和HTML的相对优势和弱点。虽然我们不能从单一案例的研究得出广泛的结论，但是这些数据可以帮助我们开始关于发展中初步标准和基础框架的讨论，这些标准和框架可以为博物馆站点的开发者面对的大量的选择Flash还是HTML的情境提供建议原理。

Schaller, David T., Steven Allison-Bunnell, Anthony Chow, Paul Marty and Misook Heo. uiGarden (2005). (Chinese) Design>Web Design>Usability>Flash

Accessibility and Macromedia Flash MX 2004

Macromedia Flash MX 2004 helps to accelerate accessible application development with a core set of UI components. These components can automate many of the most common accessibility practices related to labeling, keyboard access, and testing and help to ensure a consistent user experience across rich applications created with Macromedia Flash MX 2004. For each component, the designer or developer need only enable the accessibility object by using the command enableAccessibility(). This includes the accessibility object with the component as the movie is compiled. Because there is no simple means of removing an object once it has been added to the component, these options are turned off by default. It is therefore very important that the designer or developer enable accessibility for each component. This step needs to be done only once for each component; it is not necessary to enable accessibility for each instance of a component.

Adobe (2003). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>Flash

ActionScript.org

A collection of resources for writing ActionScript programs within your Macromedia Flash projects.

ActionScript.org. Resources>Web Design>Software>Flash

Basic Flash Concepts and Terms

Macromedia Flash uses a movie-making metaphor in how they define their concepts and areas of their interface. The basic terms used to describe the animation are the movie, stage and motion.

Kurtus, Ron. School for Champions (2002). Design>Web Design>Multimedia>Flash

Best Flash Animation

A collection of links to tutorials and high-quality rich media interface designs.

Best Flash Animation. Resources>Directories>Multimedia>Flash

Better Flash Websites

Alhough Flash has some intrinsic usability problems, designers can respect user expectations about consistency, accessibility, and common sense, and therefore make better Flash websites.

Baker, Adam. Merges.net (2001). Design>Multimedia>Interactive>Flash

Bring on Rich Media    

Technical communicators must adapt to the changing dynamics presented by the addition of rich media in the technical documentation space. Discover some suggestions for how to do so.

Ortega, Dan. Intercom (2008). Articles>Documentation>Multimedia>Flash

Building Preloaders and Progress Bars in Macromedia Flash

One of the unique features of web content built with Macromedia Flash is the ability to control when and how the content loads. When loading a heavy HTML page, the user is usually stuck looking at a blank window until the content starts appearing. Flash allows for the creation of animated preloaders, which give the user precise information about the progress of the loading process. A simple rectangular progress bar or percentage indicator will do the job, but why stop there? A preloader should be given just as much love and consideration as the rest of the site content, especially on a site that is trying to evoke a mood, or create an immersive experience. If a preloader is engaging enough, the user won't mind waiting for content, and the time it takes to load will seem shorter. The preloader is the first element someone will see when visiting your site. You can make a good first impression by welcoming your visitors with a snappy preloader.

Hirsch, Joshua. Adobe (2005). Design>Web Design>Interactive>Flash

Building with Flash and MySQL

Building a blog is cool, but building a blog with Flash, MySQL, and PHP is so much cooler. Scott guides you through two days of coding and querying.

Gilbertson, Scott. Webmonkey (2003). Design>Web Design>Server Side Includes>Flash

Comparison of Flash and Director

Only six years ago the web did not support graphics and CD-ROM based games asked users if they had 4Mb of memory on their computer with possible hard drive space of 20Mb to play any games. Today, oh heck, that seems archaic.

David, Matthew. School for Champions (2002). Design>Web Design>Multimedia>Flash

Connecting Macromedia Flash and PHP

Many web developers rely heavily on a popular combination of open source software to develop and deploy their websites and applications. This combination is often known as LAMP—an acronym for Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP. In this article, you will use a LAMP environment to create a PHP-based Rich Internet Application.

Hall, Robert M. Adobe (2004). Design>Web Design>Server Side Includes>Flash

Create Powerful Flash Applications With Shared Objects

Shared objects allow for data persistence in Flash applications, like cookies do in Web pages. Learn to leverage shared objects to create more robust apps.

David, Jean-Luc. Builder.com (2003). Design>Multimedia>Software>Flash

Creating a Dynamic Playlist for Streaming Flash Video

As developers, we are often bogged down with mundane tasks such as site maintenance and updates. Until now, if we wanted to pass these tasks on to clients or colleagues who are not tech-savvy, we had to develop sophisticated interfaces to simplify the process for them and to give them easy access to the data. But now, XML is changing that reality.

Larson, Lisa. Adobe (2004). Design>Web Design>Streaming>Flash

Creating a Video From Still Images

In the following steps, Engine Three explains how to capture and export frames from Premiere, clean them up in Photoshop, and finally assemble them in LiveMotion.

Adobe (2003). Design>Multimedia>Video>Flash

Creating Accessible Flash

Macromedia Flash is a vector-based, interactive animation creation program designed to enable the addition of dynamic characters, scenes, interfaces and motion graphics animations to Web sites. Macromedia Flash materials are created using the Flash authoring program, the most recent version of which is Flash MX.

WebAIM (2003). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>Flash

Creating Events Using the EventDispatcher Class

Handle Flash events more efficiently in your code by using the event listener object model.

Toley, Kenneth J. III. Adobe (2004). Design>Web Design>Interactive>Flash

Designer's Cafe

A page with links to facilitate users who build website with Macromedia Dreamweaver and Flash.

Ellertson, Anthony. Iowa State University (2003). Design>Web Design>Software>Flash

Director MX Versus Flash

Director, which hit the scene way back in 1988, was always considered the ultimate multimedia authoring tool. Then the Web came along and Shockwave, a format that translated Director projects for the Web, was born. It was pretty wowie in its day (circa 1995), but the size of Shockwave files, along with the browser plugin users needed to see them, really slowed Shockwave down. Enter Flash's SWF format, which was designed solely for the Web so it was faster and easier to use than Shockwave. And the rest is history: Flash is everywhere, and whipper-snapper Web developers are all, 'Shockwave who?' But Shockwave has its uses. Flash may be better than ever these days, but you can still outgrow it. Say you need better video performance, or you want to create a game or educational tool that uses a joy stick. Or maybe you're looking for the depth of 3D animation. When it comes to interactive projects in the non-Web world (yes, it's true, there is life outside the Web) — such as CD-ROM games, educational materials, reference books, and presentations — sometimes Flash just isn't enough. If you're tackling a big-league, off-Web project, or a particularly intricate website, then perhaps it's time to take another look at Macromedia's Director MX.

Kay, Michael. Webmonkey (2003). Design>Multimedia>Web Design>Flash

Effective Use of Flash in Professional Web Sites

Macromedia Flash is a popular animation application that can produce some striking special effects. In professional web sites, Flash must be used effectively instead of simply for novelty. Business applications of Flash can advertise a product or showcase a skill-set. Educational applications can use Flash to provide multimedia instruction. Entertainment applications of Flash include games and cartoons.

Kurtus, Ron. School for Champions (2002). Design>Web Design>Multimedia>Flash

Encode, Deliver, Design: Getting a Grip on Flash Video

Follow these simple technical steps to turn your video concept into reality with Flash Video.

Goodman, Craig. Adobe (2005). Design>Web Design>Streaming>Flash

Fast-Track Your Flash Site

Many Websites that use Flash could be optimized to load much more quickly than they currently do. By breaking up one large .swf into multiple smaller .swf files, you can decrease the time it takes your site to load, while at the same time making the site easier to manage. This article will look at how to break your Website into multiple .swf files, and discuss why it's a good idea.

Angeletti, Mark. Search-This (2004). Design>Web Design>Multimedia>Flash

Flash 5: The Color Object

Give your visitors the option to control the color in your Flash movies by using the Color Object. An object is a piece of data (color, sound, movie, etc.) that contains a set of methods (the things that objects do).

Berg, Debbie. WebDeb (2002). Design>Web Design>Interactive>Flash

Flash: 99% Bad

Although multimedia has its role on the Web, current Flash technology tends to discourage usability for three reasons: it makes bad design more likely, it breaks with the Web's fundamental interaction style, and it consumes resources that would be better spent enhancing a site's core value.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2000). Design>Web Design>Multimedia>Flash

Flash: 99% Good

This site is for Flash designers who want to skip the piss and vinegar of the so called 'usability' experts and get right to the solutions for your Flash usability problems. Named in response to Jakob Neilsen's influential 2000 article Flash: 99% Bad.

Flash Good. Design>Web Design>Software>Flash

The Flash Aesthetic

Scaling, 2-D style, cycle-free motion, and heavy strokes. They’re not just web design trends any more. Join Olson on a cultural scavenger hunt as he tracks the ways Flash design techniques have crept into other media.

Olson, Ross. List Apart, A (2001). Design>Multimedia>Web Design>Flash