Interactivity and Control

There are several interactivities and controls that will definitely be used when creating a website; here are some examples:

Buttons: These are generally used to navigate from one page to another or could even be used as a hyperlink to link the viewer to another website, image, video etc. There are a range of buttons that can be used, from designing your own on another piece of software such as Adobe Photoshop to simply putting a hyperlink on some text. Having buttons will allow the user to navigate around the website with ease.

Events: An event is something happening within a computer programme to change its actions. The most common events are typing on a keyboard to enter data/information or just a simple click of a mouse. This will send these events to the programme running and apply the actions accordingly.

Hotspots: A hotspot can be used over a graphic object such as an image or a section of text, which will activate when the user clicks on the hotspot. Hotspots are generally invisible but users will know that they are there as the curser will change into a ‘hand’ icon. Hotspots can be used to display a picture (for example, you might have a picture as a thumbnail in which you could put a hotspot over and once clicked on, it will open a new window with the full sized image on. This will save space on your webpage and could look more professional). It can also do other functions such as play a video or be linked to another webpage. The hotspot tool itself is very similar to the Marquee tool or Polygonal Lasso tool in Adobe Photoshop. In Adobe Dreamweaver there is a Rectangle Hotspot if the object you want to hotspot is square or rectangular, an Oval Hotspot if the object is round and also a Polygon Hotspot if the object is an obscure shape.

Scripting: Scripting can be used when creating a website to show creativity and making it more appealing to the audience. An example of scripting could be inserting a YouTube video, Google Maps or even a Flash animation (Action Script) into the webpage. In order to do this, a specific code will be needed in order to placed within the coding script. Other scripting inkling JavaScript can be used such as clocks, calendars etc.

Timelines: For certain companies, including a timeline is important as it is a really good way of interacting with an audience whether it is employees, fans etc. Having a timeline on a website will allow the audience to access specific dates and events are relevant to the situation. Having it on a website will also mean that everyone that the timeline applies to can have access to it.

Slideshows: Slideshows are often used as an opening to the websites to give a brief synopsis of what the website is all about. A good example of this is Apple as they generally use a slideshows when entering the website to show new products and available software. Slideshows can also be used for educational purposes within a website to break the content up for the user.

Effects: There are hundreds of effects that can be added to your website to make it more interactive and appealing to the target audience. From simple rollover buttons to search bars or even an opening Flash animation, these are all classed as effects to make your website creative and specific to the target audience.