Multimedia is all over the World Wide Web. Sites like YouTube and Google Video are popular examples. Visit any major media outlet's website and you will find a combination of text, audio, and video content. Gaming and entertainment sites are filled with multimedia.
Websites are one of the most used delivery systems for multimedia. Understanding how to build multimedia websites is becoming an increasingly important skill for everyone in the communication field from news reporters to public relations professionals.
HTML is coding language that provides the framework for websites. HTML provides the overall structure and content for your site. However, it is very limited in its ability to control the layout and presentation of content. Cascading style sheets (CSS) is now the standard for controlling how a page looks. As you read the PDF chapters and visit the websites under the Resources section, keep three basic rules in mind.
Rule #1
HTML is used to insert content. CSS is always used to control placement and formatting. You should never apply colors, set font attributes, or align items using HTML tags. Do not use font, background, or align HTML tags. I will hang you from the Gooch patio by your toenails if you use HTML for formatting. (OK, maybe that's a little extreme but using HTML for formatting is bad practice.) The CSS Zen Garden website is a great place to view the difference between HTML and CSS. Play around on the site and see how different CSS style sheets can change the same HTML document.
Rule #2
NEVER USE TABLES FOR PAGE LAYOUT. This was a widespread practice of web designers before CSS. With the introduction of CSS and its div tag there is no reason to use a table for page layout. Tables create fat pages that take longer to download. You will learn how to use div tags to create more precise layouts and faster, more efficient pages. The only time that you should use a table is when - are you ready for this - you actually need to display tabular information (radical thought, I know).
Rule #3
Remember that not all web browsers are created equally. The graphical browser revolutionized the Internet by making its content easily accessible to the masses. While there are HTML and CSS standards in place, each browser interpretes, and in some cases completely ignores, the rules. FireFox and Safari both handle cutting edge CSS easily. Internet Explorer is completely different. Keep in mind that we will be discussing general HTML and CSS standards but in practice there are times you have to use workarounds for each browser.