Usability Issues
Two issues often overlooked in multimedia design by beginners are
usability and accessibility issues. A big debate right now would
be whether or not Flash helps or hurts usability. Obviously, there
are examples where Flash is just downright annoying and not helping
usability. For instance, you may have come across a site where an
animation plays across the browser on top of the content with no
way to skip the animation or get around it to see the content until
the movie is done playing. Well, these are examples of poor site
usability, but the advertising is necessary by those sites in order
to gain revenue to keep the site afloat. It's a tradeoff. It is
also common to have fancy Flash sites with no way to navigate through
keyboard commands or no text-only version for those with disabilities.
A large market is then left out of the mix, and in education, it
is a market with legal rights to access the information.
I was able to find 2 sites that I think epitomize the usability
arguments on both sides. First a usability expert looks down upon
Flash and then Macromedia responds with their own exercises in usability.
The accessibility issue, however, is still up in the air. Until
designers begin to take the time to either create 2 sites (one for
most people and one for those with disabilities) or until designers
have the knowledge and time to program accessible Flash movies,
accessibility will continue to be an issue. If you are interested
in learning more about accessibility issues, please refer to the Pointer
and Clicker archive for past articles that addressed them. In
the meantime, take a look at these sites arguing the usability side
of the issue.
I hope that you enjoyed this excursion into the world of Flash
and its potential for online education.
The End
