What is embedded media?

Webpages contain embedded media when they have audio, movies or animations that plays or display on the webpage rather than in a separate application. Animation, audio, video, or other media that is displayed within a Web page is known as embedded media. Embedding media in webpages deliver an integrated multimedia experience that appears seamless to the visitor.

The HTML required to embed a movie or animation into a web page can be complex. Take a look at this article A List Apart: Articles: Bye Bye Embed written in 2006, to find more examples and some hacks suggested for getting around browser limitations. The code that I regularly use has served me well in Firefox, IE, Flock and Safari. I haven't tested it in other browsers. Of course even if you get the embed code right, your visitors must have the appropriate plugin in order to view the embedded media within a webpage. Plugins, like Flash or QuickTime, are usually pre-installed on most computers, or they can be easily downloaded when needed.

What media types can be embedded into web pages?

Practically any media type can be embedded into web pages, including:

Audio (e.g. mp3, wav, aiff, au etc.)
Real RealMedia (e.g., RealVideo, RealAudio)
QuickTime QuickTime movies
WindowsMedia Windows Media
Flash Flash animations

1. Save your media file to a location and make note of it.

2. Add needed code to a webpage's HTML.

The basic code that can be used to embed media uses the <embed> tag.

src is the name of the movie file.

height and width correspond to the dimensions of the movie.

A controller can be true - present, or false - absent

autoplay set to true lets the movie begin playing without user intervention.

type helps browsers recognize the movie format when the page is opened.

I like to use this code:

"The OBJECT element is used to include objects such as images, audio, videos, Java applets, and Flash animations. OBJECT is intended to replace the more specific IMG and APPLET elements, as well as the proprietary EMBED and BGSOUND elements, though a lack of browser support and severe bugs in supporting browsers make the other elements a better choice in many cases. ... The OBJECT element may contain PARAM elements--before any other content--to provide run-time initialization data."