Editorial Articles

Digital media and the Internet are in a state of perpetual evolution. One constant however is the widespread desire to include animations on websites. Up until quite recently Adobe Flash, which was released in 1996, was really the only program enabling designers to enliven static sites. Thanks to Flash, they had the opportunity to really engage with their audience. It was the best solution and remained so until the beginning of this year when a major competitor arrived on the scene.

2010 saw the birth of HTML5, the latest version of the most popular web language in the world. A revolutionary aspect of this new model resides within the Canvas functionality and enables HTML to at last challenge the hegemony of Flash. But how can HTML5, which is still under development, compete with the legendary Adobe giant?

HTML5 changes the online world
Coupled with the appropriate JavaScript functions, Canvas will now enable designers to animate pages very easily. The first consequence of this is that Flash is no longer the only solution to animate elements on your website. Creating a real time clock, sphere rotation, or sliders is now very easy to do -without resorting to Flash.

Advantages? There are plenty!
Not only does HTML5 do animations, it does great ones! And what’s more, using it to animate your web pages will deliver savings in terms of computer resources by an average of 70% This means less time taken to download and play the animations, as well as better accessibility for older machines, and the more physical returns on your laptop not running hot in your lap.

One of the biggest concerns for web master is achieving Search Engine Optimisation - one of Flash’s greatest limitations. The use of HTML5 will now ensure your content is accessible by search engines and indexed more easily. The reason for this is simple: Flash content sits within the code itself whereas HTML5 content resides on the page itself.

Smartphone, a new approach to your sites
One other important limitation of Flash is that it is still not accessible via new mobile devices. Mobile friendly versions of the Flash players are being developed for most of the Smartphones, not including Apple’s famous iPhone, but there are still no final delivery dates. However, developing your site using HTML5 canvas and animation will ensure your website is completely accessible on all Smartphones.

Flash is still a great product, but we should now differentiate between Flash development and Flash design. Adobe’s prodigal son is still of huge significance to web based video games and for really complicated animations. However web page animations are now increasingly being written in HTML5. YouTube is a great example: they have recently released their first non flash video player to great acclaim and looks like it will become the first site to switch exclusively to HTML5.

We have been using HTML5 since the beginning of this year and with it has already delivered successful projects for MasterCard and Cadbury both of which have delivered a much richer experience to their audience. HTML5 has helped reduce costs and shorten development time whilst making website maintenance much easier.

Think about your audience
Before creating or rebuilding your website, you need to scrutinise your customers’ requirements and current activity carefully. Every important factor must be taken in to consideration, from target demographics to the client’s hardware. HTML5 will allow you to create a website quicker than Flash, and less expensively, improving your Search Engines’ statistics as well as improving your customer’s journey: HTML5 is new, has infinite possibilities, and will make people talk about your site. So, what’s not to love about it?

Frederic Parisis
the big: group