4. Plug-ins
• The Web was designed to display
text and include images
• These are the “native” formats of the
Web
• Everything else is only viewable on
the Web through a plug-in
5. Significant and Problematic
Although plug-ins significantly expand the
possibilities of the Web, theyʼre equally problematic
•Compatibility with Browsers and OS
•Must have the right plug-in to view, or the most up-
to-date plug-in if it changes often
•Not centrally controlled or standardized
•Security concerns, since software will be installed
on your usersʼ computers
•More sophisticated coding to use them, with specific
parameters and languages for each
6. Eolas patent
• Microsoft was sued by the Eolas company which
held a patent on technology to play media
automatically
• Microsoft changed Internet Explorer to stop playing
media automatically, including Flash
• Click here to activate message appeared before
users could interact with all multimedia
• The Workaround: load multimedia dynamically
using JavaScript
• Dreamweaver automatically adds the JavaScript
whenever you add Flash to a page
7. Codecs
• Compression-Decompression, or Code-
Decode
• Source files are not viewable on the Web
• Your editing software compresses and
encodes your source files with codecs
• Plug-ins decompress and decode your
multimedia files to make them viewable to
your users
• Some plug-ins can read multiple formats,
not all of them can
8. Common codecs and formats
Video:
•Flash Video, .flv
•Windows Media, .wmv
•AVI (Audio Video Interleave), .avi
•MPEG, .mpg or mpeg
•MP4, .mp4
•Quicktime, .mov
•RealVideo, .rm or .ram
•IPod, .m4v
Audio:
•MP3, .mp3
9. Design considerations
• Donʼt surprise your users with multimedia
• Present media on a secondary page
• Use a fast loading plain HTML page as the main page to present
users with information and a screenshot or preview
• Include the running time, format, and file size
• Explain any special software requirements and provide a
download link to required browser plug-ins
• Provide playback controls
• Make viewing your multimedia a user choice, allow your
users to confirm their systems are properly configured and that
they have enough bandwidth, time, and patience to continue
Further reading, Web Style Guide: Multimedia
11. FLV - Flash Video format
• Flash is the most widely used plug-in on the
Web right now. 98% penetration, more than
WMV and Quicktime
• Just drag and drop, or:
‣ Select Insert > Media > Flash Video
‣ For other types of media, go to Insert >
Media > Plug-in
• Select a player skin
• Upload all files to server
12. More about embedding Flash
• Bye Bye Embed by Elizabeth Castro,
A List Apart
• Flash Embedding Cage Match by
Bobby van der Sluis, A List Apart
13. Other Flash Video Players
(skins)
If you're not excited about
Dreamweaver's skins, you can:
•Build your own
•Download one someone else has built
‣ JW FLV Media Player
15. SimpleViewer
• SimpleViewer is a Flash movie that
can pull images and thumbnails from
a folder and show them in a
slideshow
• Use the Manual Instructions for the
most control
17. Coda-Slider
• Coda-Slider uses JavaScript, HTML,
and CSS to create a tabbed
slideshow
• This alternative works where you
donʼt want to or canʼt use Flash
19. Timeline
October November December
29 6 13 20 27 3 10 17 24 1 8 15
Last day
of class
Strategy
Present final projects
Design (two days)
Site development Present
(html coding) revisions
Page production
(add content and images)
Usability Testing
21. Homework, due Nov 24
• Read Chapter 18: Managing Your
Site
• Read Metacrap: Putting the torch to
seven straw-men of the meta-utopia
by Cory Doctorow
• Work on your final projects
Next week: Accessibility and Search
Engine Optimization (SEO)
