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Like everything in web development, flash has its place. But like almost everything in web development, it is overused.

Clients love flash. It gives them the "Wow!" they are looking for in a website. Unfortunately, flash is usually thrown in to be flashy without any thought to how it relates to the website, how long it takes to load, or SEO considerations.

I once had a boss show me the new flash for our website. It had over 60 seconds of a golf putt circling before sinking in the hole. When I expressed my confusion on how that related to web development, I was told I didn't understand because I was not the target audience. Okay...whatever.

People come to websites for information. They don't want to wait for flash to load or to have to download the newest flash plug-in. Most people don't like the distraction of moving animations when they are trying to scan a website.Therefore in homage to Weird Al and Andy Bernard, I have written a song. One of these days I will make a cool flash animation but for right now you will have to hum along in your head.

What I Hate About Flash

To the tune of What I Like About You by the Romantics

Hey, uh huh huh
Hey, uh huh huh

What I hate about flash, takes forever to load
Reduces usability and it's bad for SEO.

Takes up all the room above the fold,
All my content is pushed down below, browsers crash.
That's what I hate about flash

What I hate about flash, all the images move
They go up, down, jump around, what are they trying to prove, yeah

None of the content is indexed,
Might as well use images for your text, browsers crash
That's what I hate about flash
That's what I hate about flash
That's what I hate about flash

Wahh!

Hey!

What I hate about flash, validation's not free
Don'tcha know, <embed>s not approved by w3c, yeah

It's messin' around in my code,
Another new version, I don't wanna download, browsers crash
That's what I hate about flash
That's what I hate about flash
That's what I hate about flash
That's what I hate about flash (whispered)
That's what I hate about flash (whispered)
That's what I hate about flash (whispered)
That's what I hate about flash (whispered)

Hey, uh huh huh, hey hey hey
Hey, uh huh huh, brrr
Hey, uh huh huh, hey