HTML VS FLASH

-By Eugene Yoon
In today’s world it’s increasingly important to be familiar with all things digital. Working in Account Service, I make it a point to keep myself informed by constantly checking in with our Digital Department. Lately, I’ve been learning a bit about the war between HTML and FLASH. What are the pros and cons of each, and which is better suited for what purpose? Let’s start with HTML.
HTML (HyperText Markup Language)
• The most basic and standard platform for designing web sites.
• Well supported by all browsers on all platforms of computers (so it makes little difference whether you’re surfing the web on Firefox, Chrome, Safari or IE on a Mac or PC).
• Adds value with its ability to be configured to take advantage of Search Engine Optimisation.
• Compatible with all screen sizes.
• Loads websites quicker.
• You don’t have to be a total geek to understand or learn how to use it – there are plenty of resources out there like w3schools that make it really simple with their online HTML editor.
FLASH
• A great tool to add interactivity and animation to a web site.
• Isn’t compatible with all mobile devices.
• Time-consuming build – it’s vital that absolutely everything is coded correctly with Flash. This means you’ll need to be prepared to spend countless hours working through each line of code or your visitor could end up with a blank screen.
• Need of a Flash plugin (that may need constant updating) installed on your web browsers.
• Tracking web traffic, conversions and goals could be a major hurdle because unlike in HTML, every action you want tracked needs to be programmed and instructed within the application.
• Lastly – If your site is built in Flash, it means that any changes or updates will have to be done by a Flash developer, which will probably start to get expensive if you’ve got a site that needs content to be updated on a regular basis.
So, to answer your question – which is the right tool for you? My answer would be – that depends. As you can see, HTML offers many advantages over Flash, however, there really isn’t a definitive right or wrong, because the benefits of using one or the other vary from case to case.

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