Getting compatible with jQuery
As a designer at Dental Design, making websites look good is only part of the challenge. With recent surges in smartphone sales and more people than ever browsing the internet on their mobile devices, it’s expected that websites should (as a minimum) look the same on a phone as they do on a computer.
That’s all very well and it’s not that difficult to achieve if a website uses Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), but problems arise when websites use Flash. As you may or may not know, iPhones and iPads (basically any Apple product) do not support Flash. They never have and they probably never will. Which means that if you try and view a website on your phone that contains Flash animation, you won’t see it at all. This is a big problem when it comes to user experience.
So what are we doing to fix this? Well, luckily, an alternative exists that looks just as good as Flash but it has the cross-platform compatibilities that Flash lacks. It’s called ‘jQuery’ and it’s a relatively new JavaScript framework, made popular by its smaller file sizes and quicker-to-load effects. It could even completely replace Flash in the future.
All our new websites and redesigns benefit from jQuery and a flexible CSS structure that allows full mobile compatibility. If you’re not sure whether your website is compatible for smartphones or would like us to make sure it is, give us a call today on 01202 677277.
5 Reasons That Make JQuery Better than Flash
Macromedia launched the now legendary Flash platform in 1996. It allowed web designers to vastly improve a visitor’s website experience by creating content rich interactive media websites, which was not possible hitherto. For many years, Macromedia enjoyed a monopoly, as no other competitor could hope to match Flash (some skeptics will disagree and some may cite HTML5 as a rival, but none of them can really match Flash). But this changed when JQuery was introduced in 2006 by an American, John Resig. JQuery is a JavaScript Framework that is now becoming very popular, and may even replace Flash in the future.
Here are 5 Reasons why JQuery is better than Flash, and why Flash is now seriously threatened:
Compatibility is a key factor
If Flash has a real Achilles heel, then this is it. Flash is not compatible with the iPhone, iPad and other popular cell phones. This is a huge drawback, and many people wouldn’t consider using Flash just for this very reason and this is where JQuery scores heavily over the Flash. JQuery is compatible with all these cell phones. Also, Flash may not be compatible with all web browsers, while JQuery is compatible with them all.
Ease of Use
You need to be a designing expert to be able to create even the simplest stuff using Flash and it is difficult. But you don’t need to have more than some basic knowledge of HTML and JavaScript for JQuery; and everything is easy to create. JQuery offers almost all the same capabilities as Flash, and the load is much lighter and easier to design than Flash. There are many more customization options in JQuery.
Textual Enhancement
Flash is not good when combined with text, and this is a well publicized fact. Flash is a heavy duty platform meant for showcasing media, and it fails miserably when combined with text. You won’t find many text based websites, like news sites, using much of Flash. But JQuery works like a dream when combined with text, and it helps improve readability of the content significantly.
Money Matters
If you want to work with Flash, you have to buy a Flash suite, which can set you back by quite a bit. Upgrades also cost a lot of money, and you may need to hire a Flash expert to create a website if you don’t have the requisite designing knowledge. But JQuery is completely free! Also, JQuery incorporates almost all the features that Flash does.
Looks are important
The way a website looks is very important; especially when you need to attract more visitors and Flash was the first choice when designers wanted to create a shiny website. But now Jquery (combined with HTML) can create flashy websites that can rival any Flash based ones, and because of the other advantages, JQuery is the perfect choice for designers.
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