Re: [WSG] Usability Questions for Quicktime
On 6 Feb 2007, at 21:50:28, Tim Palac wrote: I've upgraded all the videos on my site to Flash, and there is code (Flash Satay, amongst others) that works with all browsers and still follows all standards. snip This is the code I use to embed Flash on my site that doesn't give the W3C Validator any errors: object classid=clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-44455354 width=400 height=300 param name=movie value=your.swf / param name=wmode value=transparent / param name=quality value=high / !--[if !IE] -- object data=your.swf width=400 height=300 type=application/x-shockwave-flash param name=quality value=high / param name=wmode value=transparent / /object !-- ![endif]-- /object Robert Nyman has recently written on this topic, presenting an even shorter version of the above code: http://www.robertnyman.com/2007/02/01/how-to-write-valid-htmlxhtml- code-to-include-flash/ His code is basically the same as the code I've used (when the designers force me to include Flash ;-) for about three years now, without encountering any problems - see, for example, http:// www.leicestersound.co.uk (but not the ad code, over which I had no control). Regards, Nick. -- Nick Fitzsimons http://www.nickfitz.co.uk/ *** List Guidelines: http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm Unsubscribe: http://webstandardsgroup.org/join/unsubscribe.cfm Help: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ***
Re: [WSG] Usability Questions for Quicktime
The fact that *some* users get a poor experience with Quicktime content is exactly why Sarah should go with Flash. Absolutely. I advised that earlier in this thread. -- Jan Brasna :: www.alphanumeric.cz | www.janbrasna.com | www.wdnews.net *** List Guidelines: http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm Unsubscribe: http://webstandardsgroup.org/join/unsubscribe.cfm Help: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ***
Re: [WSG] Usability Questions for Quicktime
I've upgraded all the videos on my site to Flash, and there is code (Flash Satay, amongst others) that works with all browsers and still follows all standards. Trust me, this is the way you want to go - my experience with Quicktime is that the files tend to be bulky, and there's no way they have the quality that a Flash video file will. I used to use Windows Media Video because it had a decent file size, but that got ditched once Flash came along. This is the code I use to embed Flash on my site that doesn't give the W3C Validator any errors: object classid=clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-44455354 width=400 height=300 param name=movie value=your.swf / param name=wmode value=transparent / param name=quality value=high / !--[if !IE] -- object data=your.swf width=400 height=300 type=application/x-shockwave-flash param name=quality value=high / param name=wmode value=transparent / /object !-- ![endif]-- /object -Tim AIM/Yahoo/Google: TymArtist On 2/5/07, Kay Smoljak [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On 2/6/07, Sarah Peeke (XERT) [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: 2. Is there a different file format which is more universal? Quicktime movies can be imported into Flash, which has much higher browser penetration. And there is lots of information available on embedding flash in a gracefully degradable way. -- Kay Smoljak business: www.cleverstarfish.com standards: kay.zombiecoder.com coldfusion: kay.smoljak.com personal: goatlady.wordpress.com *** List Guidelines: http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm Unsubscribe: http://webstandardsgroup.org/join/unsubscribe.cfm Help: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** *** List Guidelines: http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm Unsubscribe: http://webstandardsgroup.org/join/unsubscribe.cfm Help: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ***
Re: [WSG] Usability Questions for Quicktime
Many thanks Tim. I've upgraded all the videos on my site to Flash, and there is code (Flash Satay, amongst others) that works with all browsers and still follows all standards. Trust me, this is the way you want to go - my experience with Quicktime is that the files tend to be bulky, and there's no way they have the quality that a Flash video file will. I used to use Windows Media Video because it had a decent file size, but that got ditched once Flash came along. This is the code I use to embed Flash on my site that doesn't give the W3C Validator any errors: object classid=clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-44455354 width=400 height=300 param name=movie value=your.swf / param name=wmode value=transparent / param name=quality value=high / !--[if !IE] -- object data=your.swf width=400 height=300 type=application/x-shockwave-flash param name=quality value=high / param name=wmode value=transparent / /object !-- ![endif]-- /object -Tim AIM/Yahoo/Google: TymArtist -- XERT Communications email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] mobile: 0438 017 416 http://www.xert.com.au/ web development : digital imaging : dvd production *** List Guidelines: http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm Unsubscribe: http://webstandardsgroup.org/join/unsubscribe.cfm Help: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ***
Re: [WSG] Usability Questions for Quicktime
Quicktime is that the files tend to be bulky, and there's no way they have the quality that a Flash video file will. That's not precisely true, the Sorenson and H.24(4|3) are pretty much similar in effectiveness to VP6 (and some of the codecs are even shared among these containers). All depends on processing settings. -- Jan Brasna :: www.alphanumeric.cz | www.janbrasna.com | www.wdnews.net *** List Guidelines: http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm Unsubscribe: http://webstandardsgroup.org/join/unsubscribe.cfm Help: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ***
Re: [WSG] Usability Questions for Quicktime
On 2/6/07, Jan Brasna [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Quicktime is that the files tend to be bulky, and there's no way they have the quality that a Flash video file will. That's not precisely true, the Sorenson and H.24(4|3) are pretty much similar in effectiveness to VP6 (and some of the codecs are even shared among these containers). All depends on processing settings. Well if you are going to have a mixed bag of results depending on what codecs your users have, then that should be a big warning sign right there. The fact that *some* users get a poor experience with Quicktime content is exactly why Sarah should go with Flash. -- -- Christian Montoya christianmontoya.net .. designtocss.com *** List Guidelines: http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm Unsubscribe: http://webstandardsgroup.org/join/unsubscribe.cfm Help: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ***
[WSG] Usability Questions for Quicktime
Hi all, I am using the code below to embed a .mov file, which is standards compliant in XHTML 1.0 Strict. Two questions please: 1. What is the best way to hide the movie from browsers that don't support quicktime (or from users who don't want to download quicktime)? 2. Is there a different file format which is more universal? = object classid=clsid:02BF25D5-8C17-4B23-BC80-D3488ABDDC6B codebase=http://www.apple.com/qtactivex/qtplugin.cab; param name=src value=/images/movies/test.mov / param name=autoplay value=true / param name=controller value=false / param name=loop value=true / param name=bgcolor value=#a6ad98 / !--[if !IE]-- object type=video/quicktime data=/images/movies/test.mov param name=autoplay value=true / param name=controller value=false / param name=loop value=true / param name=bgcolor value=#a6ad98 / /object !--![endif]-- /object = Thanks in advance :) -- XERT Communications email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] mobile: 0438 017 416 http://www.xert.com.au/ web development : digital imaging : dvd production *** List Guidelines: http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm Unsubscribe: http://webstandardsgroup.org/join/unsubscribe.cfm Help: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ***
Re: [WSG] Usability Questions for Quicktime
On 2/6/07, Sarah Peeke (XERT) [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: 2. Is there a different file format which is more universal? Quicktime movies can be imported into Flash, which has much higher browser penetration. And there is lots of information available on embedding flash in a gracefully degradable way. -- Kay Smoljak business: www.cleverstarfish.com standards: kay.zombiecoder.com coldfusion: kay.smoljak.com personal: goatlady.wordpress.com *** List Guidelines: http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm Unsubscribe: http://webstandardsgroup.org/join/unsubscribe.cfm Help: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ***
Re: [WSG] Usability Questions for Quicktime
1. What is the best way to hide the movie from browsers that don't support quicktime (or from users who don't want to download quicktime)? To use an UFO/SWFObject alternative for QT, or Satay-like QT alternative w/ fallbacks. 2. Is there a different file format which is more universal? Flash - FLV. Great compression effectiveness, 97% reach (compared to ca. 66% of QT), pretty much platform independent (sans non-x86 or x64 unix). -- Jan Brasna :: www.alphanumeric.cz | www.janbrasna.com | www.wdnews.net *** List Guidelines: http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm Unsubscribe: http://webstandardsgroup.org/join/unsubscribe.cfm Help: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ***
RE: [WSG] Usability Questions for Quicktime
It may just be that our customers are not very good designers but many of the Flash-based multimedia projects we have tested have had problems with resource utilisation. Often the video will use 2 or 3 times as much CPU and memory when it is embedded in Flash compared with playing it in a media player. I have seen this kill reasonable spec machines like a 2GHz P4 when the original video would play ok on a machine half that speed. I just finished such a project today. One video had been compressed to three different levels to allow it to be streamed at different rates. All three videos used the same CPU and memory even though the file sizes varied by a factor of 4 to 1. It means that people with different connection speeds can make an appropriate choice but people with low-specification hardware (1GHz PIII and below in this case) cannot. We are not designers, just testers, so I don't know if there is a simple solution to this. However, we work for a lot of clever people and they often revert to a non-Flash solution. You also need to be careful how you embed your Flash content because some techniques (I believe Satay is one) are not accessible to screen readers. At this very moment I am testing a site where this happens. Unfortunately a very loud Flash-based audio track starts when the page loads and the button for silencing it is not accessible because JAWS does not even recognise that the page contains a Flash movie. Steve Green Director Test Partners Ltd / First Accessibility www.testpartners.co.uk www.accessibility.co.uk -Original Message- From: listdad@webstandardsgroup.org [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Jan Brasna Sent: 05 February 2007 23:47 To: wsg@webstandardsgroup.org Subject: Re: [WSG] Usability Questions for Quicktime 1. What is the best way to hide the movie from browsers that don't support quicktime (or from users who don't want to download quicktime)? To use an UFO/SWFObject alternative for QT, or Satay-like QT alternative w/ fallbacks. 2. Is there a different file format which is more universal? Flash - FLV. Great compression effectiveness, 97% reach (compared to ca. 66% of QT), pretty much platform independent (sans non-x86 or x64 unix). -- Jan Brasna :: www.alphanumeric.cz | www.janbrasna.com | www.wdnews.net *** List Guidelines: http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm Unsubscribe: http://webstandardsgroup.org/join/unsubscribe.cfm Help: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ***
RE: [WSG] Usability Questions for Quicktime
Hi Steve We work for a lot of clever people and they often revert to a non-Flash solution. Thanks for your reply (and everyone else too!) - I was concerned about Flash too. Have the designers you've tested for found QuickTime to be more accessible to screen readers, generally? Otherwise, what other non-Flash solutions do they use? I am most concerned about usability/accessibility issues with this project. Thanks Sarah -- XERT Communications email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] mobile: 0438 017 416 http://www.xert.com.au/ web development : digital imaging : dvd production *** List Guidelines: http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm Unsubscribe: http://webstandardsgroup.org/join/unsubscribe.cfm Help: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ***
Re: [WSG] Usability Questions for Quicktime
QuickTime to be more accessible to screen readers, generally? It's generally the same - no one advised you to autostart the playback etc., so as long as the Flash could receive focus and start the playback via AT, it's okay. I am most concerned about usability/accessibility issues with this project. It may sound weird for some orthodox web guys that Flash could be more usable and accessible in some context, but due to a large standardization of the video playback interface it's generally perceived as a transparent component, easy to use. I've noticed also that Flash has developed better keyboard operation and AT API/support than an average embedded system media player. -- Jan Brasna :: www.alphanumeric.cz | www.janbrasna.com | www.wdnews.net *** List Guidelines: http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm Unsubscribe: http://webstandardsgroup.org/join/unsubscribe.cfm Help: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ***
Re: [WSG] Usability Questions for Quicktime
On 2/5/07, Sarah Peeke (XERT) [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: 2. Is there a different file format which is more universal? Quicktime works well with IE browsers, but with other browsers it's hit and miss. All too often I have seen my browser (FF 2.0) crash as a result of a Quicktime movie. Flash never crashes. Regardless of which consumes more resources (and if Flash is slow you are doing it wrong), Flash is much more dependable. -- -- Christian Montoya christianmontoya.net .. designtocss.com *** List Guidelines: http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm Unsubscribe: http://webstandardsgroup.org/join/unsubscribe.cfm Help: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ***
Re: [WSG] Usability Questions for Quicktime
On 06/02/07, Christian Montoya [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Quicktime works well with IE browsers, but with other browsers it's hit and miss. All too often I have seen my browser (FF 2.0) crash as a result of a Quicktime movie. Flash never crashes. Regardless of which consumes more resources (and if Flash is slow you are doing it wrong), Flash is much more dependable. I find all my Quicktime plugin problems are not Apple's fault, but third party. Namely, VLC tries to steal Quicktime (and Windows Media) types of files, and the VLC plugin is not at all as stable as Quicktime. But that's just my system. -- David liorean Andersson *** List Guidelines: http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm Unsubscribe: http://webstandardsgroup.org/join/unsubscribe.cfm Help: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ***
