Fifth Avenue Shoe Repair

We just finished a new web site for the swedish brand Fifth Avenue Shoe Repair last week. This was my first flash project in years and the first time we connected our beloved django backend with XML content and actionscripted front-end.

What the… flash?!

That’s right. Actually, flash is great fun to work with as actionscript has evolved through the years to become a mature and very object oriented programming language. The days of using the flash interface for drawing lines are basically over, since the stage is often left empty in favor for scripted graphics and typography. It even supports some CSS! (I wouldn’t go there though).

I love all things about flash that HTML and CSS don’t have, at the same time as things can get frustrated when you take away the convenience of a browser rendering engine. Every pixel and event needs to be considered and often programmed manually, even though there are a lot of re-useable classes and packages out there. The huge relief as a CSS/HTML developer was definitely the cross-browser issue, since flash basically renders the same in all browsers (except some occasional javascript communications and loading external swf’s etc.).

Accessibility, standards and flash

The Fifth Avenue Shoe Repair site is fairly inaccessible, like most flash sites, but we did make some efforts to improve that:

• It uses named URLs for better bookmarking (but we didn’t get the back-button right)
• It uses 100% XML content to simplify alternative presentation options
• It degrades in a sensible way if javascript or flash is unavailable (installation/download instructions etc.)
• It doesn’t use pop-ups or full-screen scripts

There are a lot more accessibility issues to be addressed in future flash projects, like:

• Scalable fonts and site using familiar keyboard combinations
• A working back button
• Tabulated form controls
• Smarter loads and decreased loading time
• Alternative HTML content from XML

The Web Standards movement have been rejecting flash for the past years, claiming that it’s slow, annoying and inaccessible. While that is true in many cases, it doesn’t have to be like that. The flash technology is here to stay and it’s time to accept it as a superb design tool for presenting content on the web. Instead of fighting it, you can work with it and make the best possible use of it.