New updates are available from Adobe for its Dreamweaver and Flash website design tools. The Creative Suite 5.5 adds some new tools that are specifically geared for tablets and mobile device design, along with improved HTML5 and CSS3 support in Dreamweaver 5.5.

These tools include a newer version of the WebKit rendering engine, which Dreamweaver uses for live previews. The update brings it to par with what's available in the latest releases of Chrome, Safari and most mobile web browsers. Flash CS 5.5 hops on the multi-screen bandwagon with new features to scale objects in the timeline, shared asset libraries and new publishing options that fit a variety of platforms, including Android, iOS and traditional Flash movies. New content resizing options are very helpful and work more like Photoshop functions. You need only select the content you'd like to resize and either drag or enter dimensions in a dialogue box.

There are many tools for web design on the market today, but many of these feature dull, static HTML templates that will produce unimpressive end results. The cross-platform MAGIX Website Maker 5, on the other hand, allows you to create animated Flash web design, which can be customized with an array of animated and dynamic elements.

These include music and video players, photo galleries, embedded YouTube videos, Google maps, and much more. The quality of the templates in this package is very good, and you get to choose from over 150 in total. Each template includes multiple pages and comes with navigation built in. You must install a local component to use Website Maker, but then it runs in your browser. This can pose some compatibility issues because only IE, Firefox 3 and Opera 9 are supported.

An independent authority on the best web design companies has released a top ten list of the best Flash web design firms. Each of the companies under consideration was put through an extensive evaluation by an independent review team of Flash design experts.

The criteria focused on project analysis, which reviews the process by which a vendor analyzes the focus of a business and the possibilities for designing a website specifically for that business. Another area of focus was the vendor's ability to identify types of software that would be beneficial for the client and different components and protocols of which to take advantage. Firms were also rated based on how well they involved the customer in the design process and the information they gathered in order to develop an effective website. Ecommerce Partners topped the list, followed by iWeb and EnginesofCreation.com.