If you have not had a chance to read any of Steve Krugg's Don’t Make Me Think! A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability, you should as it contains important lessons about design.
In chapter 2, Krugg (2006) discusses how readers tend to scan pages as opposed to reading them. He writes:
One of the very few well-documented facts about Web use is that people tend to spend very little time reading most Web pages. Instead, we scan (or skim) them, looking for words or phrases that catch our eye.
The exception, of course, is pages that contain documents like news stories, reports, or product descriptions. But even then, if the doucment is longer than a few paragraphs, we're likely to print it out because it easier and faster to read on paper than on a screen. (p. 22)
Krug’s book focuses on design principles with an emphasis on the how and why. Furthermore, he is more concerned with explaining the core components of usability rather than the actual technology. An experienced web technology consultant, Krug includes several real world examples for readers to understand and relate to.
Krug takes an entertaining, yet enlightening approach to teaching web usability. Readers do not have to be website design specialists to grasp and apply the procedures within the text.
Krug, S. (2006). Don’t make me think! A common sense approach to web usability (2nd ed.). Berkeley, CA: New Riders.
When designing for the web, it is extremely important to keep your audience in mind. However, just how much (or how little) do users read?
Dr. Jakob Nielsen conducted a research study to find the answer. Considered to be a top expert on web usability, Nielsen’s findings are rather easy to understand.
According to Nielsen (2008), "On the average Web page, users have time to read at most 28% of the words during an average visit; 20% is more likely" (Summary section).
Embedding video means to embed, or place, a video within the XHTML code of a web page.
Videos can be played “inline” or by a “helper”, depending on the XHTML element you use.
W3Schools.com is a good source to learn more embedding video:
When a video is included within a web page, it is called an inline video. If you plan to use inline videos in your web applications, please be aware that some people find inline videos annoying. Also, please note that some users might have turned off the inline video option in their browser.
Our best advice is to include inline videos only in web pages where the user expects to see a video. An example of this is a page, which opens after the user has clicked on a link to see a video.
A helper application is a program that can be launched by the browser to "help" play a video. Helper applications are also commonly referred to as plug-ins. Helper applications can be launched using the <embed> or the <object> tag. (http://www.w3schools.com/)
The purpose of the <embed> and <object> tags is to embed multimedia elements within a web page.
One great advantage of using a media player plug-in is you can allow some, or all, of the settings to be controlled by the user. Most of these plug-ins allow manual, or programmed, control over the volume settings and functions such as rewind, pause, stop and play.
According to htmlgoodies.com writer Scott Clark (2008), “the most commonly used method to embed video today is via a Flash player and a .flv file” (para. 1).
Other Adobe Flash file formats include .f4v, .f4p, .f4a, and .f4b.
With websites such as YouTube, embedding media has been simplified for web designers. Clark continues this point by writing:
Along comes YouTube ... and embedding a video onto a web page becomes as easy as cutting and pasting. When you visit a site that hosts videos, such as YouTube, you are presented with a video box on the page. You can watch the video directly on the page, or the Flash player allows you to view the video full screen, just by clicking a button on the player. As Borat would say..."VERY NICE!!" How much does it cost you to add a video from YouTube to your site? Nada--nothing. They provide the service, and they also provide the bandwidth, so the video is hosted on their servers and uses their bandwidth! Hard to beat a deal like that! (para 4).
Take a moment to find a video on YouTube that you want to embed into your blog. To the right of the actual video, there is a description. Under the description, you will find the form fields labeled URL and Embed. The embed code is already included for you to copy and paste like so:
Furthermore, here is what the actual code for the previous video above looks like.
YouTube also has a customize function you can utilize as well. Moreover, YouTube is a great user-friendly avenue to use when pertaining to embedding videos.
Clark, S. 2008. How to add a YouTube video to your web site. Retrieved from http://www.htmlgoodies.com/tutorials/web_graphics/article.php/3480061
Audio, video, animation or other media displayed within a Web page is referred to as embedded media. Furthermore, embedding media within Web pages permits the delivery of an integrated multimedia experience that appears seamless to the user.
W3schools.com is a good source of information about how-tos for embedding media. As discussed in the Playing Videos on a Web Site section, it is important to know your audience.
“Our best advice is to include inline videos only in web pages where the user expects to see a video. An example of this is a page which opens after the user has clicked on a link to see the video.”
Embedding video is one tool to enhance your blog. About.com blogger Marziah Karch explains how you embed video from YouTube by writing:
"YouTube has all sorts of interesting, funny, silly, and provocative content. One of the most appealing things about YouTube is how easy it is to share this content with others. You can easily embed any video on YouTube into your own blog. Here's how you do it." Karch, M. (n.d.). How to Embed a YouTube Video on Your Blog. Retrieved from http://google.about.com/od/googleblogging/ss/embedyoutubesbs.htm
