Media: Builder.com reviews the flap about Flash

In 'To Flash or not to Flash', Shawn Morton of Builder.com looks at Jakob Nielsen's assertion that Flash is 99% bad and discusses whether it can be deployed usably.

He gives a good account of why Flash can be treacherous, citing:
- Nonstandard navigation and the incapacitation of the browser's back button.
- Link standards
'Many Flash interfaces use graphics, icons, or cascading menus to represent or display links. These can cause usability problems because users must determine where to navigate before moving the mouse. Predictability is a huge part of navigating any interface, so it’s a problem if links and buttons aren’t clearly visible and their use apparent.'
- Accessibility because, as the Flash code is treated as an embedded object, 'the browser’s accessibility tools aren’t available to the user'.

Morton goes on to look at how Macromedia has improved Flash and the education of developers to overcome these shortcomings, and quite a lively discussion of his piece is also to be found on the site.

Associated Link: Builder.com: To Flash or not to Flash

The Net generation, Unplugged
Source: The Economist, 11 March 2010
 
Is it really helpful to talk about a new generation of "digital natives" who have grown up with the internet?

Rewriting the Human-Computer interaction Handbook
Source: CIOL, 10 March 2010
 
Indrani Medhi of Microsoft Research India has developed text-free user interfaces (UIs) to allow any illiterate or semi-literate person on first contact with a computer, to proceed with minimal or no assistance.

Lip reading Mobile promises End to noisy phone calls
Source: BBC, 9 March 2010
 
A prototype device shown off at CeBIT could allow people to conduct silent phone conversations.

Games User Researchers band together
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The number of UX professionals in gaming has reached critical mass.

Quince Pro enables privately-held UX Design Libraries
Source: Infragistics, 6 March 2010
 
Infragistics has launched Quince Pro, a private, secure and organized way to collaborate, communicate and cultivate private UX design libraries to ensure consistent user experiences across teams, departments and companies.

Announcing a new issue of the Journal of Usability Studies
Source: UPA, 5 March 2010
 
UPA is happy to announce the publication of the second issue of volume 5, the Journal of Usability Studies.

Impatient versus Bored
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Customers are much more likely to get impatient with your website than they are to be bored with it.

Futures Thinking: Writing Scenarios
Source: Fast Company, 3 March 2010
 
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How to Conduct a Usability Review
Source: UsefulUsability, 2 March 2010
 
Never hurts to be reminded.

New Tool pitched at UX consultants and small Usability Teams
Source: UN, 1 March 2010
 
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