Hour 20. Working with Flash and Other Embeddable Content

One of the major turning points in the evolution of web design was the introduction of Flash. By designing interactive components in this new animation platform, designers were no longer restricted by simple rollovers and straight page changes. All of a sudden, there was a way to make incredibly advanced animated buttons, sliding screens, and whatever else the designer could come up with.

Unlike everything else you have been introduced to so far, Flash is not a native web language. To run Flash content, visitors must have the Flash Player plug-in installed in their computer. On your end, it means that any Flash element has to be inserted into a page as a replaced item, much like an image. This puts some restrictions on how you can and should use Flash content in your pages.