It's not like Flash has the best form reputation on the web. I am
constantly finding myself trying to argue the case for use of Flash
forms as I find it better to integrate in some of the sites I build.
However, I have absolutely no grounds to stand on when it comes to
usability/accessibility. What is up with Flash form elements? Why are
they not behaving as they should. Even Flex for that matter - the
scrollbars are slower than your average browser scrollbar. Really when
will this be sorted?
It's not like Flash has the best form reputation on the web. I am
constantly finding myself trying to argue the case for use of Flash
forms as I find it better to integrate in some of the sites I build.
However, I have absolutely no grounds to stand on when it comes to
usability/accessibility. What is up with Flash form elements? Why are
they not behaving as they should. Even Flex for that matter - the
scrollbars are slower than your average browser scrollbar. Really when
will this be sorted?
I find myself spending hours looking for bug fixes when it comes to forms. My Technical Project Manager and I even had a few words the other day as he was insisting that Flash forms are just not accessible much less usable. In my ignorant state I take the challenge and convince him I would embark on building the perfect form. A reusable component I say that will be used for generations to come. Boy was I sadly mistaken.
Legacy bugs like a TextFormat not working on an Input TextField since Flash 8 is really not making my challenge any easier. But when was a challenge ever easy. Tabbing into radio buttons or combo boxes. Don't get me started on skinning these. In fact it is probably easier to re-write these components from scratch than skinning them. What about tabbing and focussing on a specific form item. They all require some pre-conditioned state that is either not attainable or require the user to be web savvy. I digress.
It's not just an AS2 problem, AS3 has some of the same quirks. Some might say "Why not use Flex?" - and well even though I really like the ease of use I can't have a form that is 230Kb in weight. It's just not right. I heard rumours that the flex framework might be built-in with FP10 which could solve loads of issues and might sway me to use Flex in the future. But for now I am stuck between a rock and a hard place.
In my eyes Flash is almost perfect except for forms. You can't beat a good old HTML form with all the accessible bits built in. Want a dropdown with white text? No problem. CSS baby. What about keyboard accessibility. No worries all inclusive.
So what's my point? If Adobe can produce a product that can run Quake 2, surely they can give us HTML form elements in Flash.
As for my challenge... I am building all the components myself and a custom FocusManager to handle the tabbing. The outcome is still undecided. I will not fail in my aim to execute. And that is a promise.
I find myself spending hours looking for bug fixes when it comes to forms. My Technical Project Manager and I even had a few words the other day as he was insisting that Flash forms are just not accessible much less usable. In my ignorant state I take the challenge and convince him I would embark on building the perfect form. A reusable component I say that will be used for generations to come. Boy was I sadly mistaken.
Legacy bugs like a TextFormat not working on an Input TextField since Flash 8 is really not making my challenge any easier. But when was a challenge ever easy. Tabbing into radio buttons or combo boxes. Don't get me started on skinning these. In fact it is probably easier to re-write these components from scratch than skinning them. What about tabbing and focussing on a specific form item. They all require some pre-conditioned state that is either not attainable or require the user to be web savvy. I digress.
It's not just an AS2 problem, AS3 has some of the same quirks. Some might say "Why not use Flex?" - and well even though I really like the ease of use I can't have a form that is 230Kb in weight. It's just not right. I heard rumours that the flex framework might be built-in with FP10 which could solve loads of issues and might sway me to use Flex in the future. But for now I am stuck between a rock and a hard place.
In my eyes Flash is almost perfect except for forms. You can't beat a good old HTML form with all the accessible bits built in. Want a dropdown with white text? No problem. CSS baby. What about keyboard accessibility. No worries all inclusive.
So what's my point? If Adobe can produce a product that can run Quake 2, surely they can give us HTML form elements in Flash.
As for my challenge... I am building all the components myself and a custom FocusManager to handle the tabbing. The outcome is still undecided. I will not fail in my aim to execute. And that is a promise.
Leave a comment