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Because we are citizen focused (lowest common denominator), I need to be very clear in outlining a business case for Flash and the usability and accessibility concerns that go along with providing exceptional services and information. I can not factor out individuals with physical disabilities such as hard of hearing, poor eyesight etc, ESL individuals, seniors, and a variety of other user groups. I've always been a fan of flash, but realize there is a time and place for it. I don’t want to add it because it will 'jazz' up the site!
Any information or direction you could provide me would be greatly appreciated!
As you mentioned -- usability simply MUST be considered, and you are correct in developing to the lowest common denominator.
I wrote a little piece on intuitive site design a while back, which has since been turned into a small MSN Office test site. You're welcome to take a look and see if it gives you any inspiration in building a case for usability, etc. to take to the 'powers that be'.-->
[intuitivesitedesign.com...]
Has your organization done any demographics studies or end user polling? If it is a government entity - there may be some data available, if only Census Poll data for the group the organization serves.
Of course you can also poll the site users on thier preferences (online poll, email, telephone, etc.).
I also find Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox (http://www.useit.com/alertbox/) to be useful. Jakob is a long time advocate of usability and he has a lot of good information and testing/study data available.
Hope this helps. :)
dlp
On the matter of the usability site site in the URL quoted in the previous posts befoe you knock flash let me say this
Its a table based design (tables are for tabular data my friend not layout it may have been ok in 2000 its not acceptable now), its out of alignment in firefox and is a code mess full of inline formatting. perhaps you should sort that out before critiscising flash.
OK to answer the question... nothing should be added to a site just because you can, every part of a site should serve a purpose and function.
Flash has a place (it may not be right for this site, I am not in receipt of enough information to comment), just ensure you use the accesibility text options and implement keyboard navigation as well as mouse.
Additionally make sure alternate content is available for those who for whatever reason.
Hope that helps, it was written with an open mind, something you often do not find in flash discussions.
I think he did - way back when, lol. :) At any rate, To be sure, I don't always agree with his ideas, but he is one of many and varied sources of information that I have been known to read.
"On the matter of the usability site site in the URL quoted in the previous posts befoe you knock flash let me say this
Its a table based design (tables are for tabular data my friend not layout it may have been ok in 2000 its not acceptable now), its out of alignment in firefox and is a code mess full of inline formatting. perhaps you should sort that out before critiscising flash. "
I tend to agree. As I believe I stated -- the url is a 'test' (in Beta, 'not for prime-time' use) MSN OfficeLive Beta site - and was only mentioned in relation to it's content. My opinion of the MSN OL systems' design and development capabilities (or lack thereof) need to remain my own for now. :)
And forgive me for being overly-sensitive...but I did not knock OR criticize flash. On the contrary -- I agree that there is a place for flash - and as you said...it may be this site...we simply don't know. :)
My intent is/was only to state my opinion (IMHO = In My Humble Opinion) based on my understanding of the original posts query. My opinion is however only that - mine, prone to fallibility, and apt to change without notice - not intended as a blanket statement of law nor applicability to any or all circumstances.
Ok...I feel better now :)
