Can anyone arm me with advice as why I should tell my client not have a Flash site like this http://www.seymourpowell.com/ beautiful though it is, even that we can produce something like this. e.g. Is an all Flash site actually Legal in the UK?
*** I notice the site has commented out text in the HTML, does Google read commented out HTML? I thought not.
freewaytalk mailing list
email@hidden
Update your subscriptions at:
http://freewaytalk.net/person/options
Sometime around 1/9/08 (at 06:24 -0400) WebWorker said:
Can anyone arm me with advice as why I should tell my client not
have a Flash site like this http://www.seymourpowell.com/ beautiful
though it is, even that we can produce something like this. e.g. Is
an all Flash site actually Legal in the UK?
Local government (and big Government too) sites must, by law, be
accessible. This means more accessible than is easy to manage in
Flash. Flash content can be made a little more accessible than most
people realise, but it ain’t simple and it really ain’t a great way
to go if that’s a concern. This IS a point that should be considered
carefully.
But no, there’s nothing legal preventing most organisations from
doing an all-Flash site. Whether this should be of real concern or
not to your client depends on what they do.
I’d also like to say here that I think that site is an excellent
example of a successful, well-made Flash site. It is involving, slick
and professional, the precise qualities that I’m certain were listed
during the planning stages. Be very careful about using this site as
an example of why Flash sites aren’t a good idea. 
One possible point for discussion is cost. This represents a lot of
work by very talented - and therefore expensive - designers and
programmers.
Hell, if your client does have the budget for this, find the right
creatives and geeks and damn well go for it! You may not see a huge
amount of the spend in your own pocket, but it’d be an interesting
project and good for your portfolio.
*** I notice the site has commented out text in the HTML, does
Google read commented out HTML? I thought not.
Google will read everything it can see. Commented-out HTML is
probably not given as much credence as human-visible-in-browser text
for ranking or indexing. In theory it could even count against it,
although (a) things aren’t really quite that clear-cut, and (b) it is
unarguably findable if you use a decent portion of the commented-out
text in a Google search.
In fact, I think this is an example of Flash content being made more
search engine-friendly within itself. If you search Google for
nothing more specific than “Product design consultancy”, even without
the quotes, this Seymour Powell site comes up as the first
non-directory result. THAT is impressive. See my previous comment
about this representing a lot of work by expensive talent.
k
freewaytalk mailing list
email@hidden
Update your subscriptions at:
http://freewaytalk.net/person/options
If you look carefully, they have pages mixed with HTML at the back end, and other site around the web as what looks like part of a group.
As you say I really doubt the client has the budget to do something anywhere near like this.
freewaytalk mailing list
email@hidden
Update your subscriptions at:
http://freewaytalk.net/person/options
Sometime around 1/9/08 (at 08:42 -0400) WebWorker said:
If you look carefully, they have pages mixed with HTML at the back
end, and other site around the web as what looks like part of a
group.
Yep, all that does help increase its standing in Google’s eyes. It is
still impressive that the home page, which is entirely Flash other
than commented-out text and meta tags, does so well in searches.
An exception that proves the rule. (I’ve always considered that to be
a daft thing to say from a literalist point of view, but the meaning
is clear.)
k
freewaytalk mailing list
email@hidden
Update your subscriptions at:
http://freewaytalk.net/person/options
On this search
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=seymour+powell&btnG=Google+Search&meta=
They get extra entries below for various directories in the site.
How did they do that? as they say. Is it correctly configured Google site maps? Just pay Google more? I’ve seen this displaying of directories on other large web sites - but why them? What are they doing?
freewaytalk mailing list
email@hidden
Update your subscriptions at:
http://freewaytalk.net/person/options