SOME RANDOM DUDE

A while back, I wrote a small article about why I felt Silverlight should fail. The writeup generated a lot of good conversation and a bit of ire from Silverlight supporters (such as this example) so I thought it would be beneficial to write a followup. Let me try to make this clear, I am not a Flash fanboy. While I use Flash to pay the bills, I have written about my concerns with Flash. It is my belief that use of Flash on the web (and other RIA technologies) will continue to dwindle as open-source solutions that provide similar solutions take their place. Even if Silverlight usurps Flash (something I greatly doubt), there may not be much of a kingdom to reign upon once they do. I think Adobe sees this shift, I am unsure if Microsoft does.
(more…)adobe, air, browser plugin, cross browser, cross platform, flash, flex, javascript, microsoft, open source, ria, silverlight standards

Through a fairly heated debate on standards I ran across a very nice write-up on how to integrate Flash elements in a site with maximum accessibility, backward compatibility and standards in mind. Called FAUST (Flash Augmenting Standards), this method ensures media/data will be accessible no matter how far down the technology chain you go. The example on the site shows how absolutely beautiful this is for the end-user. Flash developers and front-end developers should sit down together and read this side-by-side.

I have made very clear my opinion on anti-flash standardistas. That being said, I have a deep respect for web accessibility/standards and feel it is a high priority to make Flash as web-friendly as possible. A lot of work has been done towards this end and FAUST seems to be an attempt to put all the fragmented pieces together in one cohesive package. I really applaud this sort of work as it is all too infrequent but highly important. With media consumption on the web growing, Flash is almost assuredly going to become even more integral a part of the web. These sorts of methods are going to make the process just that much nicer for the end user. Major kudos.

del.icio.us linkaccessibility, daily, delicious, faust, flash, html, link, media, standardistas, standards, web web development

The more I read attacks on Flash, the more I end up shaking my head in confusion. Honestly, I am a little surprised this is still being debated. People, we need to get over this. Before I elaborate further, I want to make clear my support for web standards, usability and accessibility. Additionally, I understand the concern with Flash - it is not as easy to make accessible compared to HTML/CSS, it has, and continues, to be used for some really stupid things, etc., etc., etc. We have all been down that road, we have heard the arguments. That being said, standardistas: you are fighting a losing battle, and on top of it, a battle not worth fighting. Flash is about as standards-friendly as any media plug-in there is. For each bad use of Flash, there are hundreds being used well. Lastly, and more importantly, it is changing what we can do on a browser and how our generation accesses media. Please, for everyone’s sake, stop griping about Flash and start educating people on how it can be used more effectively with standards and accessibility in mind.
(more…)accessibility, css, flash, flash video, html, javascript, opinion, standardistas, standards, usability, user generated content, video, web development you need to chill the hell out

This article is somewhat belated and could be considered much ado about nothing, but nonetheless I think this is a relevant topic to discuss. Microsoft recently announced that they would be using the RSS icon introduced by the Firefox browser. This was considered a very wise choice by many, including myself at first as it was a victory (albeit small) for standardization. Soon afterward, Matt Brett started a micro-site to help propagate this icon for use by the public. I commend Matt’s efforts and fully back him on the notion that a standard icon needs to be established for syndication. My argument is that we are not backing the right icon…
(more…)design, icons, opinion, rss standards