Website Design

Bells & Whistles

Media & New Technology

The world of the internet is changing very quickly, and sometimes it can be hard to keep up with all the new developments that are coming out. More importantly, it can be hard to decide whether you want any of these developments on your page.

Media can give a very interactive experience to your page, but it should only be used appropriately and with restraint. The best method I have found is to offer these things as downloads, not force them onto the page so the viewer has to sit and wait and possibly have to download some programs to view your content.

Music can sometimes enhance a page, but there should always be a switch-off option. Better yet, set the music not to start automatically and give the surfer the chance to switch it on if they want. Of all the websites I have seen with embedded music, perhaps in 1% of them the music actually added to the experience of the site, whereas in the remaining 99% it was simply an annoyance.

Midi files have been the subjects of much debate over copyright in recent years, and it seems likely that places offering midi files for download will be shut down. Unless you composed the midi yourself, or have permission from the composer to use the piece, it's best not to use them.

The same thing goes for MP3 files. We all know what happened to Napster. MP3s should be offered only if you are the copyright holder, or if you have the permission of the copyright holder to offer them.

Streaming audio and video have been touted as being the coming thing for some years, but my opinion is that the connection speeds used by the majority of surfers is not yet good enough to support them. If you have audio or video to offer, the best method is to offer them as downloads, preferably in .zip format. You will also be best off sticking to the main file formats, e.g. .WAV, .MPEG, .RAM rather than offering something for which the visitor will need a download.

Flash, Javascript, XHTML, CSS

Flash and Javascript have been out for some years, but their use has only become widespread recently. Most surfers now have Flash and/or Java capability, but you should remember that some visitors won't. So if you're using these methods for navigation, for example Flash buttons or Java pull-down menus, you should also provide an alternative method of navigation.

XHTML and XML are relatively new forms of coding your pages and I freely admit I don't know much about them, besides that they look very exciting and I plan to investigate them soon. Before adding new technology you should always consider two things: firstly, does it add to the page and have a purpose, or am I putting this in to show off? If a technology doesn't serve a purpose, get rid of it. Secondly, how many of my visitors will be able to see or use it? A good source to find this out is the browser reference chart at WebMonkey.com. I will not use any technology that less than 90% of my visitors can make use of.

CSS is the best invention for years and I wholly advocate its use - providing you know what you're doing. This tutorial gives you a good introduction to CSS, but there are thousands of others available too. The beauty of working with CSS is that you can change the design of your whole site by making one or two changes to your stylesheet. Since I discovered CSS, it has made updating this site one whole lot easier.

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