Wav or Mpeg audio on website Help?

[CouponGuy]

I've just started a website for a memorial website for a radio station I worked at and I'm placiung some audio on the page. I used wav files and a small java script to place the wav file on the main page. BTW, the website is at http://kfxm-memory-lane.batcave.net My question is my Disk Jockeys who are doing the next set of audio files and want to use mpeg files. I am trying my best to do the html and using Dreamweaver MX to create the pages and I noticed the IE browser handles the wav file code fine but NS v.7 browser doesn't like the java script and it won't display the audio controls for the audio(wav) file. I have been searching here and elsewhere on the Net and I think you have to "embed" a mpeg file to get it to work. My DJ people are experts in audio production and can handle the audio creation quite well but I need to be able accomodate them and their mpeg files. What java code (script) or HTML do I use that will work and be compatible for both IE and NS and or Firefox. I think I read somewhere that you can have more than one tag for the same item (mpeg file) but the browsers recognize their tag and ignor the other's tag (IE or NS). What is the correct way to code the tags for placing audio on a Web page? I would really appreciate any help you can offer. I know their's a big argument as to how many types of browsers you make your Web pages compatible for but I think the 3 main browsers (mentioned above) is "catering to the masses."

[Till]

Originally Posted by CouponGuy

I've just started a website for a memorial website for a radio station I worked at and I'm placiung some audio on the page. I used wav files and a small java script to place the wav file on the main page. BTW, the website is at http://kfxm-memory-lane.batcave.net My question is my Disk Jockeys who are doing the next set of audio files and want to use mpeg files. I am trying my best to do the html and using Dreamweaver MX to create the pages and I noticed the IE browser handles the wav file code fine but NS v.7 browser doesn't like the java script and it won't display the audio controls for the audio(wav) file. I have been searching here and elsewhere on the Net and I think you have to "embed" a mpeg file to get it to work. My DJ people are experts in audio production and can handle the audio creation quite well but I need to be able accomodate them and their mpeg files. What java code (script) or HTML do I use that will work and be compatible for both IE and NS and or Firefox. I think I read somewhere that you can have more than one tag for the same item (mpeg file) but the browsers recognize their tag and ignor the other's tag (IE or NS). What is the correct way to code the tags for placing audio on a Web page? I would really appreciate any help you can offer. I know their's a big argument as to how many types of browsers you make your Web pages compatible for but I think the 3 main browsers (mentioned above) is "catering to the masses."

A good idea would be to embed the files using a flash player. This way they work accross all operating system that support Flash - and that is virtually any. Even cellphones can handle flash.

[CouponGuy]

Till,

Question, does flash handle both wav and mp3 files? The reason is that we are going to use both file types for playing our radio air-checks and voice-over from the disk jockeys. Did you get a chance to look at the website? I know that it has been a little crude but it's getting better as I go. Quite the learning curve but I enjoy the challenge. I found an excellent DHTML countdown timer script. We have a huge event that's going to take place in September 15, 2007. The countdown display on the main web page reminds the visitors of how many days are left until the big day. I have the URL for the guy in Britain that wrote the script. This script is the simplest I've seen compared to java and asp, etc.

Is DHTML code fairly cross-browser compatible between IE, NS & Firefox? My statcounter is telling me that 88% of my visitors are using IE 5 or 6. I just can't see re-writing the code or adding code to accomodate 5% or less of my visitors who use some rouge browser to be different. I understand your position that if your Website passes the W3 validator then ytour pages should load and display the content. THere's a few more parameters or conditions to make that happen. 1.) IF the visitor has java enabled and 2.) The active x is enabled. I understand if someone is paranoid about getting a virus but typically these types of things are on Websites that are not typical mainstream like; hacking, cracking, porno, serial numbers Websites. If you realize the types of people behind the scenes on these Websites you should realize that you are going into dangerous territory. As they say, "Let the Web Surfer Beware!"

Please let me know about the Flash compatibility to wav and mp3 files and the DHTML also.

THanks Again for your suggestion,

CouponGuy

[john-formby]

does flash handle both wav and mp3 files?

Flash can support mp3 & wav files. There are plenty of tutorials on the internet to build a simple player using Actionscript.

Is DHTML code fairly cross-browser compatible between IE, NS & Firefox?

There is actually no such thing as DHTML. The D stands for Dynamic and just means that in addition to HTML, you are also using CSS or scripting like JavaScript.

In answer to your question, the only way to tell if your site is cross compatible is to test it in different browsers. It is impossible to test in every browser (there are loads of them) so I just test the big 4 (Internet Explorer, Netscape, Firefox & Opera). If it works in all of them then I am happy and it usually works in the majority of others.

My statcounter is telling me that 88% of my visitors are using IE 5 or 6. I just can't see re-writing the code or adding code to accomodate 5% or less of my visitors who use some rouge browser to be different.

The majority of people will be using IE but you should NOT ignore the others. They may only be a small percentage but they have had the intelligence to abandon IE and deserve to be made welcome. Just my personal opinion but I would redesign an entire site if it meant that a few extra people could see it. What is the point in building a site if you are going to restrict the people that can see it? If I was a listener and the website didn't bother to cater for me, I wouldn't listen anymore.

I understand your position that if your Website passes the W3 validator then ytour pages should load and display the content.

Many people are under the misconception that once they validate their code through the W3C everyone will be able to render it correctly. Unfortunately this is not the case. The validator checks that you have included required elements, closed tags and conforms to whatever doctype you have specified. However, it does not check that this code renders properly or is compatible with browsers.

John