Mike Eaton

Is Flash Dead or Alive?

Firstly I’ve never really been a huge fan of Flash with it’s annoying, “you need to have the latest Flash Plug-in to view this content” messages, but  I accept the fact that it has it’s own important place in Web Design. It’s adored by many a designer/developer around the world and is used predominantly for online advertising campaigns.

As for mobile devices, we all know that Apple refused to adopt the 3rd party proprietary technology and we must not forget that back in November 2011, Adobe announced that it was abondoning all support for the Flash Player on mobile devices.

So it’s fair to say that Adobe will be focusing their attention more on the desktop computer, and with 3D development continuing to increase there is no doubt Flash will benefit from this. Also Flash-based AIR (Adobe Integrated Runtime) applications and games which utilises Flex, HTML and Ajax to run on the desktop and work on iOS devices will also continue to grow and get stronger.

Is HTML5 & CSS3 the new Flash?

Now we can’t talk about Flash without touching upon the so-called “Flash replacement” that is HTML5 & CSS3, and the fact that its an openly developed standard rather than a proprietary plug-in owned by one company which Flash is. A vast majority of the most respected Designers/Developers in the industry feel that HTML5 & CSS3 is the future of the internet and I whole heartedly agree with them. There is no doubt it is the most sensible way to create and build websites that benefit everyone. There are many reasons for this which is another blog in itself and I shall delve into this subject in far more detail in the next couple of months. But it must be said that Adobe is doing its bit to help things move forward with HTML5 & CSS3, which can only be a good thing for us Web Designers, as Adobe proclaimed that they vow to “more aggressively contribute to HTML5″.

Some people believe that HTML5 & CSS3 are the “New Flash”, but we have to be careful with this. Flash has been one of the most successful technologies for delivering rich content over the years and it still, without question, has a real purpose.  As long as we use the new technologies in the right way and not just to make things glossy for the sake of it, which ultimately gave Flash a bad name due to its inappropriate use.

So is Flash Dead, Alive or just slowly sinking?

For me this is a redundant question as its certainly not without its use and is still widely used within the industry. I understand that the statement, “Flash is Dead”, is more a prediction of the future than a factual announcement and that Adobe is not going to throw the towel in just yet. As they have shown recently they are willing to move with the times, and ultimately this is what they need to do. I’m sure Flash will discover its own little corner in the industry where it will reside for many a year. But for me the future has to be HTML5 & CSS3, as long as we move forward with caution and responsibility.

All Hail Responsive Web Design

Here is just a few thoughts on Responsive Web Design.

It’s a known fact that Resposive Web Designs are here to stay. There is no doubt about it that a responsive website will always benefit the user and their overall online experience no matter what device they intend to use and on what size monitor they intend to view it on. That’s the beauty of it and by creating a website that is responsive means that the design will ‘respond’ according to the device.

Whether it’s a desk top computer, the latest mobile phone or a shiny new tablet, the design will look and feel right which ultimately will increase usability, enhance the user experience and benefit everyone. It’s a win, win situation and we like them.

Having past experience of building fluid based websites back in the days of table based design we are now presented with a new problem/challenge of building websites for a wide range of devices and resolutions while also not forgetting their orientations as well.

How and Where?

So to begin building responsive websites we first need to learn some of the background to it then we can move on to understanding how to use media queries which allows us to style the page according to specific rules such as min-width.

To get started I’ve listed below a few links to some of the best resources/articles on responsive web design that I have found. I hope you enjoy.

1. Responsive Web Design – Ethan Marcotte

This was the article that kick started the whole thing. A must read for anyone who wants to learn the background and the ideas behind responsive web design.

2. Responsive Web Design: What it is and how to use it – Kayla Knight

A fantastic article from Smashing Magazine that explains the concept behind responsive web design including flexible images. It also shows some great examples of responsive websites.

3. CSS Media Queries & using available space – Chris Coyier

Here Chris explains the media query syntax and covers how to use it within a single stylesheet. Follow the guide for a hands-on introduction to the basics of responsive web design.

4. Understanding the Elements of Responsive Web Design – Jason Gross

Six Revisions takes a look at all the key elements to a truly responsive website. This includes flexible grids, scalable images and media queries.

5. CSS3 Media Queries – Web Designer Wall

Web Designer Wall  gives us some ready made code that we can copy to use in our own responsive websites. It also shows you some great examples of websites already using media queries to great effect.

So to conclude this post I would just like to say that all the articles above are a fantastic resource for all of us to learn how to truly make our websites respond to all platforms, devices and resolutions which will greatly improve everyones experience. We don’t need to build separate websites for different devices anymore, we just need to plan well before we build.