Embedding Flash with JavaScript for Quality and SEO
When I first started using Flash I used the standard object embed code that I used for video and other embedded elements at the time. As Flash and Macromedia evolved, I started using the code generated by Dreamweaver. When Internet Explorer 7 was released that simple Dreamweaver embed code created a problem. Elements like Flash were not active by default in Internet Explorer. They had to be activated through a click. This presented a problem on many websites so I transitioned to embedding Flash files using JavaScript to alleviate this problem.
Over the years I have tried a number of different Flash Embed scripts. Most do roughly the same thing, most are fairly large in scope for what they achieve. At Zipline we have developed two separate scripts for internal use and both are available for free download. We have a very lightweight version of our Flash embed code that we use often for small Flash elements. This code has very little overhead and can be downloaded at: http://www.gozipline.com/downloads/simpleFlash.zip. Our more advanced Flash embed script is designed to be a little more search engine friendly as it allows you to specify alternative content for users and browsers that cannot view Flash. The script works by allowing you to specify a holder element like a div with an ID. Then you fill that item with content for users that do not have Flash enabled. If the users has Flash enabled they will see the Flash no the alternative content. More information and a download of this script is available at: http://www.gozipline.com/25,jsseoflashembedscript.
While both those are handy lightweight scripts there are other great scripts out there that offer many more features. If you planning to insert incoming variables or use other advanced Flash embedding techniques I would suggest looking at SWFObject. SWFObject offers all of the features of our Flash embed scripts and a lot more. It is not as nearly as lightweight but it comes with many great features and is now available as part of the Google code project. If you are unfamiliar with the Google Code project, it is basically a Google sponsored repository of prominent libraries like jQuery so that developers can share a single codebase. Centralizing these scripts allows users to cache them at one location and quickly access them at each site they visit. It also means that developers don’t have to store a copy on their server for each site they develop. Check out SWFObject at: http://code.google.com/p/swfobject/ and the Google code project at: http://code.google.com/.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
No comments yet.
Leave a comment