Multimedia in Davidjosue.com
The Web Style Guide explains the importance of not distracting the user with a bunch of "eye candy." Instead web designers should only "Use images, animations, video, or sound only when relevant to [their] message" (Applications for multimedia). David Josué found a good balance because his site is interesting and keeps the users attention, but the animation and sound never takes away from the main focus of the site: his photography. Davidjosue.com uses Macromedia Flash Player; therefore, when users click on a section, the site’s animation scrolls through the list and lands on the selected area (see figure 8). Each gallery appears as nine small icons to the left and an image in the middle of the page. Then, when the user clicks on a different photo the two photos appear to slide back and forth from small icon to full image and vice versa (see figures 9 and 10). These animations are only used as a transition for the user. Additionally, the music that plays has a soft melody with few words to distract the user, and of course, the music can be turned down or off.
figure 8
figure 9
figure 10
Frances Adame
CMS 3710
Clayton State University
Updated: 12 November 2008