MP3 Download Help & FAQ

Please Note: Streaming requires a player capable of handling M3u files.

All the following are good on PC:

Performance will depend upon your internet connection and the load on the NoVinyl Server.

It is recommended that you avoid having too many browser windows or websites open simultaneously to maximise your internat bandwidth. (It's not that I want to discourage you from spending time on other sites, it just helps your computers ability to stream audio - Unless you have a broadband connection, in which case you've probably downloaded everything and left by now...)

That is also the reason why NoVinyl.net has a distinct lack of 'broad-band' features - to make room for the audio streaming!


What is XHTML, CSS WAI?

You may have spotted the XHTML, CSS2 and WAI links at the foot of each page. What this means is that NoVinyl.net adheres to the web standards established and overseen by the World Wide Web Consortium or W3C, whose aim is to lead the technical evolution of the Internet.

NoVinyl will look much better in a browser that supports W3C web standards, but it is accessible to any browser or Internet device. You can also read more about this at WebStandards.org

Why would anyone want to adhere to these standards?

The W3C standards were set out in part to govern the structural and visual layout of web pages, affecting how accessible, usable and portable a web site should be. This is important because by utilising proper, compliant XHTML and CSS it is possible to separate content from structure, making maintenance, alterations and redesign far simpler and allowing open ended access of the site content for all user agents.

Speed of access

XHTML requires less code to be used in generating each page and does not force the visitors browser to 'interpret' how the designer intended a page to render - which is why so many sites 'break' when accessed by certain user agents. This has the added benefit of loading pages and content faster.

Legally speaking

EU and US based web sites will soon need to comply with accessibility legislation. As such, poor construction or layout of web pages should not in any way inhibit access to information for any user agent. The XHTML family is designed with this in mind. Ultimately, making it possible to develop content that is usable and accessible by any conforming user agent. A 'conforming' user agent is one which does not expect to receive data in a specific format, rather it is able to render appropriate content based on the data supplied in an 'Extensible' manner.

Looking ahead

As alternate ways of accessing the Internet are introduced, the XHTML family is designed to display all compliant sites accurately. In the short term, older user agents get a text only 'experience' ensuring content remains accessible. Longer term, as new ways of expressing data is developed; the XHTML family is backward compatible so can combine existing and new features while displaying appropriate content.


Glossary of terms:

HTML - Hypertext Mark-up Language is the language used to create web sites. HTML is an SGML application and is widely regarded as the standard publishing language of the World Wide Web.

SGML - Standard Generalised Mark-up Language is a language for describing mark-up languages, particularly those used in electronic document exchange, document management, and document publishing. HTML and XHTML are examples of a language defined in SGML.

XHTML - Extensible Hypertext Mark-up Language is a family of document types that reproduce and extend HTML. XHTML family document types are XML based and ultimately are designed to work in conjunction with XML-based user agents.

XML - Extensible Mark-up Language describes a class of data objects called XML Documents and the behaviour of programs that process them. Its goal is to enable generic SGML to be served and processed on the Web in a way that is now possible with HTML. XML has been designed for ease of implementation and for interoperability with both SGML and HTML.

CSS2 - Cascading Style Sheets (level 2) is a style sheet language that allows authors and users to attach style (fonts, spacing, and aural cues) to structured X/HTML documents. By separating the presentation style of documents from the content of documents, CSS2 simplifies Web authoring and site maintenance.

WAI - Web Accessibility Initiative promotes a high degree of usability for people with disabilities. WAI Activity addresses barriers to Web accessibility on several levels. First, it seeks to ensure that the core technologies of the Web are accessible, including X/HTML, CSS, XML etc. Barriers exist when these technologies lack features needed by users with visual, hearing, physical, cognitive or neurological disabilities. For instance, multimedia presentations to be accessible to someone who is blind must support text equivalents for images and video.

USER AGENT - Any device used to access the World Wide Web; includes Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator, WebTV, Wap or Mobile communication devices and Text-only or oratory browsing devices.