Weighing Multimedia

From an Article by by Jen Muehlbauer
Written May 8, 1998

No one likes a bandwidth hog. Conversely, text-only Web sites are rarely compelling (except to the less than 1% of people using a Lynx browser). The solution?

Use multimedia -- just not bloated multimedia.

After all, most home users connect at speeds of 28.8 or greater, and that's fast enough to handle some visual stimulation. Even the Bandwidth Conservation Society's site uses frames, graphics, and JavaScript.

The key is efficiency. Know how fast your data really transfers, provide alternatives for users on the low-end of the technology totem pole, and make the most out of every graphic, sound, and animation. Fortunately, the Web is brimming with recommendations for trimming your multimedia without eliminating it entirely.

• Static Images
  Tip 6A: First things first: optimize your GIFs and JPEGs.

• Animated GIFs
  Tip 6B: Tips to consider when making static images move.

• Things
  Tip 6C: What you might not know about compression with ThingMaker.

• Shockwave
  Tip 6D: Keeping Shockwave and Flash animations under control.

• Audio and Video Formats
  Tip 6E: Does low bandwidth guarantee low sound and picture quality?

[Move on to Tip 7: Frames]