Browsers
Media must be tested on both a Mac and PC in supported campus browsers, currently Internet Explorer and Netscape. Because this will change, the best way to be sure it to go to a classroom or lab and play an example of your media. We have found IE to be more reliable than Netscape with different types of media. If there is an issue, require a specific browser and version on the page which links your media.

Linking streaming media
Because Wesleyan users are free to change browser settings in labs and classrooms, media producers need to control what will happen when a user clicks on a link. QuickTime Player remains the most dependable player for our purposes, and we recommend that you enforce its use. An embed statement can specify a target player and provide other important controls, including copyright protection. (See Apple's Quicktime authoring site for help.) Use one of the following three methods:

1) This statement embeds a player in the web page and links to a QuickTime reference movie.
<object classid="clsid:02BF25D5-8C17-4B23-BC80-D3488ABDDC6B" codebase="http://www.apple.com/qtactivex/qtplugin.cab" height="256" width="320">
<param name="src" value="http://condor.wesleyan.edu/openmedia/vim/video/medium/tabla_01_ref.mov">
<param name="autoplay" value="false"> <param name="controller" value="true">
<embed height="256" pluginspage="http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/" src="http://condor.wesleyan.edu/openmedia/vim/video/medium/tabla_01_ref.mov" type="video/quicktime" width="320" controller="true" autoplay="false">
</object>

1a) This statement uses the same method as above for MP3 audio which has been saved as QuickTime.
<object classid="clsid:02BF25D5-8C17-4B23-BC80-D3488ABDDC6B" codebase="http://www.apple.com/qtactivex/qtplugin.cab"
height=20 width=256 >
<param name="src" value="http://condor.wesleyan.edu/media/amclane/MUSC513/ref/MUSC513_CDB107_01_04_ref.mov">
<param name="autoplay" value="false"><param name="controller" value="true">
<embed height="20" pluginspage="http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/" src="http://condor.wesleyan.edu/media/amclane/MUSC513/ref/MUSC513_CDB107_01_04_ref.mov" type="audio/quicktime" width="256" controller="true" autoplay="false">
</object>

2) This example uses a link to a QuickTime reference movie file, which specifies the 'quicktimeplayer.' The browser honors this request and passes the video to QuickTime Player.

<a href="http://condor.wesleyan.edu/media/mediactr/video/tabla_sor3_500_2ref.mov">link to reference movie</a> / 2 kilobytes
link to reference file

3) This embed statement uses an poster frame, or thumbnail to represent the video.
<embed src="http://condor.wesleyan.edu/media/eparis/online_materials/japanese/jpn_poster_videos/Sakura_1_1-postr.mov" height="90" width="120" controller="false" href="rtsp://condor.wesleyan.edu/eparis/japanese/Sakura_1_1.mov" target="quicktimeplayer"

Linking directly to a media file -- easiest and least predictable method
It is easiest to link directly to the media file. For audio, this is generally fine, especially if you are using MP3s, which all browsers know how to handle. For video, it is the least desirable method, because the file will be played by whatever player is specified to support the video file type in the browser or operating system. If the RealOne Player is specified to play QuickTime, for example, this clip will not play because RealOne does not support the Sorenson codec used to compress the clip. This is a cause of real frustration for the user, and defeats your objective.

<a href="rtsp://condor.wesleyan.edu/mediactr/video/tabla_sor3_500.mov"> link to actual movie</a>
link directly to media file

ds 6/7/04