Why did I get here? Probably because the site you were looking for required you to have the Flash plug-in in order to navigate it.
Visitor? If you just wanted to visit that site, please read this information. Then, if agree, please contact its webmaster and ask them to please make their site navigable without the need for Flash. Else, please go back to the previous page. At the top of the page you will see the URL of that site: use it to go directly to that site.	Webmaster? If you are the webmaster to that site, please read this info, and then please make the content of your site accessible without the need for Flash.

Flash Sucks .org

Flash itself doesn't suck. But the way some sites use it does.

Flash is a great tool if used well

For interactive demos
For animations
For unusual functionality
For auxiliary content

Flash is fine as long as alternate ways to navigate and convey the content are provided for people who can't use Flash.

Misused, Flash sucks
for visitors

Pages takes longer to open (typically 2 to 10 times more)
The user must wait for the intro to complete
A plug-in must be installed (and updated every few months)
Animations are impossible to ignore
Navigation controls, such as the URL and the Back button, don't work

Many users don't have access to Flash:

WebTV users
Corporate users behind certain firewalls
Mobile devices (phones, PDAs,...)

When users see Flash, they think:

the content is probably useless and glitzy
it's likely to be an ad
it's probably not worth waiting for it to download
the webmaster that doesn't give a hoot that 1/2 the visitors never see the content

A webmaster who doesn't use Flash is saying:

I have worthwhile content, and I am just going to go ahead and show it to you; right now!

Flash sucks
for disabled people

Sites that can only be navigated with Flash require the visitor to have functioning eyes and hands.
If a site can only be navigated through Flash, people who can't see will not be able to find the Flash navigation menu.
If a site can only be navigated through Flash, people with motor disabilities may not be able to move a mouse to a Flash menu and click it.
Blind people use readers to visit a site. A reader reads aloud the text on the page. Flash has no text, so the reader sees none of its content, and the blind visitor won't have access to that content.
People with limited sight cannot increase the text size to make it legible.

Update: Flash 8 can be made to be accessible, but only if the developer goes through the trouble of doing so.

Flash sucks
for search engines

Search engines only see text, and Flash has no text. So, search engines will not return results for a site whose content is embedded in Flash.
Search engines only navigate through links, and Flash has no links. So, search engines will not return results for a site whose inner pages can only be accessed through Flash.

However, Google gives the webmaster a tool to point to pages that search engine can't navigate to.

Update: Google can now see through Flash... sort of.

Do you want to be in control of Flash?

Here's a tip: use the FireFox browser and the FlashBlock add-on. It lets you choose to play Flash content only if you decide you need to see it, and leave all the useless Flash unseen. Highly recommended.

References: Jakob Nielsen's reasons why Flash is "99% Bad"
Richard Cheshire's reasons why "Flash Sucks for Advertisers"
Marc Zeedar's "Top Ten Reasons Why Flash Sucks"
Web Pages that suck, a compilation of the many reasons why web pages are unfriendly (not just Flash).
Does Google Index Flash? Yes, but....

Flash is a trademark of Adobe

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