(Shelly Cashman Series) Gary B. Shelly, H. Albert Napier, Ollie N. Rivers-Web design_ introductory concepts and techniques -Cengage Learning (2008)

Animation 163
When deciding whether to incorporate Flash movies at your Web site, consider these
guidelines:
• Determine whether you have the necessary expertise and resources to create or
maintain a Web site containing Flash movies. The creation of Flash movies is often
part of the multimedia producer role discussed in Chapter 1.
• Use Flash movies only if they contribute to your Web site’s purpose in a way that
other Web site elements cannot.
• Indicate on your Web site the Flash player plug-in version needed for a visitor to
experience the Flash components optimally. Provide a link to the plug-in
download site.
• If your site has a Flash introduction — a Flash movie entry or splash page —
provide an option to skip the Flash movie and view your site’s home page.
Remember! Viewers generally dislike entry or splash pages, even those created as Flash
movies.
Although Adobe Flash CS3 and the related Flash player technologies have been
available for some time, Microsoft Silverlight ® , illustrated in Figure 6-5, is a relatively
new browser plug-in technology designed to play the multimedia content found in rich
interactive applications. Rich interactive applications (RIAs) are Web-based computer
applications that contain interactive multimedia elements. You are likely very familiar with
desktop computer applications, such as a word processor. Desktop applications provide
users with a window-style interface containing menus, buttons, and so forth while the
application’s internal instructions are stored on the user’s hard drive. RIAs, however, use a
browser window for the application’s user interface, and the application’s internal instructions
are stored on an application server. Silverlight is a cross-browser and cross-platform
RIA plug-in, which means that you can use it on virtually any personal computer using
popular browsers.
Figure 6-5 Microsoft Silverlight is a plug-in developed for rich interactive
applications.