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Macromedia Flash MX For Dummies
Support for the Flash Player
Adapted From: Macromedia Flash MX For Dummies

If you have a Web site that uses Flash, you can choose to publish an HTML file that detects whether the Flash Player is installed on the viewer's computer. If not, it displays an image file. (You need to publish to one of the image formats at the same time for this technique to work.)

The default HTML text doesn't check for the Flash player, but it includes the location to download the player. In some situations, the Flash Player downloads automatically if it's not already installed where your Web browser can find it, or a window pops up, offering the viewer the chance to download it. Many sites include a button that says: Can't see the animation? Download the Flash Player here or something to that effect. The button links to the Macromedia download center.

Many Web surfers have no idea how Web sites are created and have never heard of Flash. Therefore, giving viewers a choice of Flash and non-Flash sites may not be meaningful. (Of course, if you're a Web site designer and you think that potential clients viewing your site may be savvier than most viewers, you may have no problem in this regard.) In most situations, using the words animated and non-animated may work better. Of course, feel free to use the word Flash along with some explanation. (You want the world to know what Flash is, don't you?)


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