University Web Services
Best Practices
Multimedia
This term covers audio and video, whether streamed or not. It also covers Flash and any other medium or technology that conveys information in anything other than text.
There are two considerations relating to multimedia: accessibility issues, and display issues.
Accessibility
The fundamental rule here is that whatever information is being conveyed must be available in text form as well. In audio, for example, the words spoken must also be transcribed and available as html or text. Video is more difficult. Any audio tract must be transcribed, but if there is meaningful information conveyed in the images, some sort of text description of this information must be provided. The same rules apply whether the medium in question is a static image, a moving image, a sound file, Flash, or whatever.
Multimedia should be accompanied by two types of information: a transcription and a description. The transcription is the literal duplication of the words spoken in text form. The description is more subjective and artistic, intended to convey the meaning of the communication, sometimes at multiple levels.
Display
Multimedia links must be identified as such. This falls under the general Best Practice of always identifying any non-HTML link.
Most multimedia require some sort of plugin. Your site must provide a link so the visitor can download the plugin if necessary.