Enhancements: Multimedia Technology
From slide shows to videos, multimedia can bring your website alive. The key is careful testing to ensure that all end users have access to the resources. In addition, it's essential to provide good directions and links to any resources needed to play the media.
Using Plug-Ins
Plug-ins are external programs that you can add to the browser to enhance its capabilities. Add power to the browser and provide support to many other file types.
Popular Plug-ins = Adobe Acrobat Reader, RealAudio and RealVideo, QuickTime, Shockwave and Flash and VRML
Be sure to provide links to required software and plugins.
Some Examples
- Adobe Acrobat Reader - Adobe Acrobat lets you take existing documents created with a word processor and save them as PDF (Portable Document Format) file.
- RealAudio and RealVideo - streaming formats that enable you to see and hear large audio and video files - plays the content as it is downloaded
- QuickTime - developed by Apple and is the video standard for Macintosh
- Flash and Shockwave from Macromedia - can be used to create interactive multimedia presentations that include sound and animation
- Microsoft Windows Media - like RealAudio/Video can be used to see and hear large audio and video file
Read Chapter 18: Video, Audio, and other Multimedia by Elizabeth Castro in HTML, XHTML, & CSS, Sixth Edition.
This section of the website contains seven elements: Animated Gifs, Audio and Podcasting, Image, Documents, Flash, Presentations, Slide Shows, and Video and Videocasting.