The authors of SWFObject and UFO have been working hard on a new version released yesterday as SWFObject 2.0. The project is now on googlecode. Geoff’s announcement is here.
As stated in my earlier posts I consider use of SWFObject to be best practice for embedding SWFs in web pages.
As you will know from my earlier post, I generally consider using SWFObject to be best practice for embedding Flash in a web page. It has recently been updated to version 1.5: Release note.
It is probably also worth noting that while the present is SWFObject, the future will be SWFFix. Lead by Geoff Stearns (SWFObject) and Bobby van der Sluis (UFO).
Update (14/03/2008) : SWFObject 2 released.
After years of dreading having to implement in xhtml/css, a designer’s efforts laced with rounded corners, I recently went and proposed a design of my own requiring them. (Doh!)
Over the last few years a number of tried tested techniques have been established…
I’ve never really been a fan of bitmap corners typically using variants of the long-standing “sliding doors” technique. However if there is a 3d aspect to the design this would probably be the best way.
In my case I just wanted a neat rounded corner between a foreground and background. I found that Nifty Corner Cube was just the job! Released March 2006 under GNU GPL License, the third evolution of Nifty Corners, these are really easy to implement in JavaScript and degrade gracefully. We are not limited two colours as a ‘transparent’ mode allows background gradients through. My only (limited) disappointment was the loss of the rounded border of previous version. However my final design can and will live without borders.
For a long time I simply used the html published from the Flash IDE to embed a SWF. Expecting that to be the ‘best practice’ approach. Like others I was concerned at the impact of Microsoft’s upcoming changes to IE in response to EOLAS patent issues. I was dreading either having to write my own JavaSript or research countless approaches.
With SWFObject the problem is solved. It has been around for a long time (formerly known as FlashObject) and appears to be well tried and tested. I was really pleased with how simple it is to use, how it degrades gracefully. I’ve used this on a number of projects and now consider it to be best practice. In future I’d need a very good reason not to use it.
Update (14/03/2008): SWFObject 2 released
I’ve recently been distracted from my flash ambitions back to the world xhtm/css design. One of the issue with the organisation concerned is that in print media they use what I think is a really nice font: ITC Century Light. Ideally this is what should be used for all h1 headers through this site. Obviously not many users are likely to have this font installed. The substitute font is Times New Roman which is not nearly as neat, or distinctive.
In the bad-old days we would have created GIFs for each heading and used them instead. The height of bad-practice in this new world of standards compliance and accessibility.
Prior to doing any research, I had expected use of Flash would fall foul of similar problems. Then I found sIFR. A combination of JavaScript, CSS and Flash, which at run-time replaces designated tags with a SWF containing the text rendered in your font of choice to the same dimensions. What’s better it ticks most of the accessibility boxes. I’m really pleased with how easy this was to set up, and how it gracefully degrades.
Ok I came to this late. But the current version (2.02 at time of writing) has been recently updated with bug fixes and changes relating to ELOAS. And there is a version 3 in development.
This is a good piece of work by the developers, who are looking for funding. Certainly if my client goes with this recommendation, I’ll be sending a donation.