Multimedia

Web DesignProfessor Frank

Multimedia

• Combine text, graphics, sounds, and moving images in meaningful ways

• Use stable technology

Considerations

• Use multimedia purposefully• Don’t distract from content by using flashy

“eye candy”• Technical limitations• Needs of users with disabilities

Enhancing Content

Web Multimedia Strategies

• Tailor your content for web delivery!

Audio

• Digital audio = efficient means of information delivery

• Record it right the first time

Slide Shows

• Synchronize audio with still images• Higher image quality and size due to more

efficient data compression than video

Video

• Most challenging multimedia content• Size - one second of uncompressed, full-

quality video requires approximately 27 megabytes of disk storage space

• Scaling and compression can render material useless

Video Considerations

• Shoot original video• Shoot close-ups• Shoot against a simple monochromatic

background• Use tripod• Avoid zooming and panning• Editing – favor hard cuts between shots

Animation

• Value of web animation is questionable– Disruptive to user – users lose site message– Flash intro – annoying for users

• Animation can be useful if used wisely

Text Alternatives

• QuickTime – creates several different versions of a movie, each catered to different connection speeds

• Text transcriptions for videos – accessible, indexable by search engines

• Text captions synchronized to videos• Still images synchronized to audio

Captions

Preparing Multimedia

• Prepare files that are small enough to be accessible to the broadest possible audience

Processing

• Aim for files that can be managed by average network connection and desktop machine of your target audience

• Reduce data rate through downsampling and compression

Delivery

• Streaming - sends data to the desktop continuously but does not download the entire file

• Downloading - media is stored on the client machine in memory or on viewer’s hard drive

Design and Multimedia

• Inform your users– Menu page – quick loading, link heavy– Use previews and descriptive info– Include video running time and file size

Inform Your Users

Design and Multimedia

• Provide controls– Give users control over sound and display (ie

media controller bar)– Avoid auto play or looping– Provide options for using descriptive text

Design and Multimedia

• Support keyboard interaction– Not all users choose mice; some use keyboard

commands– For basic media playback – activate play and pause

buttons, use arrows for volume control

Design and Multimedia

• Offer choice– There are no established standards for multimedia

formats; best approach is to provide a range of choices

– Providing all options does not require much additional effort on the part of the designer and allows users to choose the option that suits them best

Offer Choice