Flash by Adobe®, is a multimedia platform used to add animation, video, and interactivity to web pages and is frequently used for advertisements and games. It also supports bidirectional streaming of audio and video.

ActionScript is the programming language used by FLASH. It requires technical skills to produce a FLASH movie to minipulate all moving objects through program control. ActionScript has similarities to JavaScript.

Having over 15,000 hours of web experience, FLASH has become one of my favorites. FLASH has grown to become quite versatile and can enrich a user experience, but so often the extensive use of FLASH animation is an overkill. It is evident particularly in advertising, which can be intrusive and annoying. We’ve all seen them.

A FLASH application should be discriminatingly designed to complement the marketing content of the page.  Otherwise, its design misuse can become detremental to the user experience.