Embedded Media

On a couple of new websites, we'll be including animated graphics to help illustrate the qualities of a building. These are media assets that fit within our automated website framework. We are using the space that is normally occupied by the building photo and inserting something a bit more dynamic. Here are some of the options we have developed.

First, here is an embedded movie with a nice little soundtrack. Click on the play button to make it go:

Here's another option. In this case we have removed the controls and the sound. The movie starts automatically and continues to loop as long as you are on the page:

Here's a third option. In this case, we display a series of images and short videos that are stored in a folder and overlay these with text headings. Because each image is a discrete file, this solution will load faster, especially on slower connections:

The decision of which options depend on the overall site design and client preferences. Expect to see media like this in new building sites over the next couple of months.

We still have some further improvements in mind. One issue is that these solutions depend on flash. Currently, if flash is not available, we simply display a static photo on the site. We would like this to 'degrade' a bit better. If there is no flash, present a javascript slideshow, if there is no javascript, fall back to an animated gif. This is what we have done here.

Another aspect we are working on is to more closely integrate this content into the main website configuration system. Currently, all these resources are in external pages that are maintained separately. In the long term, it will be better to be able to manage this content in the same way that all the other content and graphics are controlled.