W9:Multimedia elements in the web

Multimedia elements play a very important in websites design nowadays. They serve many jobs like visualizing abstract information, reinforcing understanding, draw attention and get the message across more effectively.

What are multimedia elements?

Images
There are however, some considerations which need to be followed when working on images for the web. First of all they should be relatively small. The typical size is 640×480 pixels, set at 72 dots per inch.

Audio
Audio can be added to the website by direct recording using input devices with audio card or it can be using ready audio files. The later, however, is controlled by the copywrites and permissions from the originator. Moreover, Inserting audio to ant website must consider the file size of the file. The developer must choose a compressed format that reduces the size and maintains the quality at the same time. There are two kinds of compression: lossless and lossy. Lossless is better in terms of retaining quality. Lossy on the other hand is better in terms of reducing the file size. This, however, can vary from a format to another.

Video
Videos relatively are the least common amongst the multimedia elements employed in web design. The reason is simply the size. Since videos are originally a number of photos that are played in sequence in a high speed, they consume a big file size. The size however, can be reduced again by the same technique applied to audio; that is compression. There are a number of lossless formats that are recommended to be used for video in the web.

Animation

Nowadays animation can be found across the web. These animations can be created via different techniques including but not limited to: Animated GIFs, Dynamic HTML, Java and Shockwave and Flash. Forced by the desire of internet authors to use and publish all sorts of new and complex products in the web and by the need to reduce the file size of files in order to reach as much audience as possible through limited connections, web designers invented different kinds of clever tricks and methods. One of these was using animation in the web. In addition to the two reasons above, animation is used in a website to draw attention, to demonstrate a certain notion or just for entertainment.

Text
Text is very important in websites. It is used to deliver content, to give instructions and guidelines, to explain what cannot be explained using other elements and to get input from the user (like usernames and passwords). When using text for the web there are certain recommendations which can make the user satisfied. One of these recommendations is using san-serif for big blocks of text instead of serif. This is because:

• Sans-serif fonts look good at most sizes.
• They tend to have a more contemporary or business feel.
• Most operating systems render them neatly.
• Serif fonts tend to lose readability at smaller sizes.

Another recommendation is not to fill the page with text. Text should rather be used as little as possible, unless it is an informative page. Another thing is that typeface should be chosen according to the topic of the website. For Example comic sons can be used for a website directed for children but not in a formal academic website.

Interactivity

It does not need a philosopher to know that people like fun. They like to play, chat, give their opinion, compete etc. In other words they like interactivity. This is the reason why interactivity is common in today’s websites. And although interactivity can simply mean that the website visitors can do more than viewing your published data or multimedia. The best interactive websites are the ones which support the user to accomplish his goal whether by searching, communicating, building analyzing or what so ever.