Creating HTML Documents

ID-2950 Mrs. Jeanne Osborne

Creating HTML documents

Video and Audio

Other topics

Multimedia, as a term, can refer to text, images, audio and video. This document is for video and audio.

Media files require players. In the event that someone viewing your site does not have the player installed, they need to know where to find one. Here are some players with the web site that they can be obtained from.

Player or Plug In / Web site
Windows Media Player / www.microsoft.com/downloads
Quicktime / www.apple.com/quicktime
RealOne Player / www.real.com
Macromedia Flash Player / www.macromedia.com
Macromedia Shockwave Player / www.macromedia.com
Adobe Acrobat Reader / www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/main.html
Netscape Plug-ins / http://channels.netscape.com/mybrowsers/plugins.jsp

You can find and download video and audio files from the web, or you can create them using a software package (Camtasia is the one I used for the TI-demonstrations on my web site)

File extensions:

Audio files usually have an extension of au. Others may include aiff, aif (MacIntosh) and mp3 (Windows), wave.

Video files have an extension as one of these: avi (audio video interfaced), mpeg (moving pictures experts group) or mov (Quicktime)

Linking to an audio or video file

You can insert links that when clicked, download and play an audio or video file. The file will open in a new window. Make sure that the file is in the same directory as the web page.

Use <A HREF= “?”> where the ? is the location and name of the file to which you want to link. Then place the name of the link, followed by </A>

Embedded files

You can embed the audio or video file in your html document, where the playback is directly from the page.

For either audio or video, use the tag <embed src = “?” width = # height = ##>. The ? will be the name of the file. The two numbers will be the width and height for the controls (for audio) or view screen (for video). This tag can go at the end of the html document, just before </body>

To keep the file from playing immediately when the page opens, use autostart = “false” in the tag. That will require the user to click on the play button.

To make the file loop continuously, use loop = “true” within the tag.

Background audio

You can assign an audio clip to play continuously while users visit your page. This tag is non-standard, so it may not work with all browsers.

The tag is <bgsound src=”?”>, where ? is the location and name of the file. Again, you can make it loop continuously.

Other topics

Bear in mind, that what we have done in this class is merely an introduction to html programming. You can go a lot deeper, if you desire to. Some of the other topics that you might explore, if interested, are:

·  Frames – Your documents so far have had a single frame. You can subdivide the screen into different regions called frames. You might have seen some of these on the web, where there are scroll bars to allow users to view different portions of the web page.

·  Forms – You have probably seen these if you have ever ordered something on the web or completed a survey.

·  JavaScript – This allows one to add animation to a web site.

Web servers – getting your site up and running

Once your web site is created, you may want to put it on the web. Many schools that have websites will offer faculty the option to add their own website (like I have done at Middlesex County College). In addition, one can find web hosts at either no cost (but they usually have some sort of advertising running across the screen as a banner) or at some cost.

Once you have obtained space for the web site, then you will need to use an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) to upload your files. One popular FTP for Windows is found at www.ipswitch.com/products/WS_FTP/ . Basically, you are going to copy your files from the flash drive (or hard drive of your computer) onto the server, using this software. You usually will have some sort of password with the FTP so as to prevent anyone from either adding to or deleting from your site. You can also download your files from the server to your computer or flash drive with the FTP.

A couple of real important considerations about your website

1. If for some reason, you want search engines to find your site, you will need to use the META tag. We really haven’t covered it, but you should be able to find references to it.

2. Remember that you will be a professional educator. NEVER put anything on your website that could compromise your teaching position. Actually, my personal recommendation is to only make an educational website. Do not get involved with MySpace, on-line dating, controversial chat rooms, etc. You do not want to have the director of human resources, your superintendent, principal, department chairman , parents or even students finding out things that are better left undiscovered. Especially if you are not tenured, this could be a real problem, leading to your dismissal.

3. If you do create an educational website, remember to update it periodically. Each time that you do update it, it is a good idea to have a note on the home page as to when it was last updated.

4. Every page should link back to the home page.

5. Make sure that all links work correctly and all graphics are visible.

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