What are rich internet applications?
Oct
16
Written by:
10/16/2009
Rich internet application (or RIA) is a term that is increasingly used to describe a new category of 'smart' web-based applications. These applications are designed to create rich user experences and tend to look and function quite differently from normal web pages. Media players, product configurators and games are common examples of rich internet applications.
Depending upon the software used to create them, RIAs may require the viewer to have specific browser plug-ins such as Adobe® Flash® Player, Microsoft Silverlight or Java. An interesting feature of some RIAs is their ability to respond very quickly to user interaction; only the content that needs to be updated on the page is retrieved from the server, unlike most web applications where the whole page needs to be refreshed. A good example of this is Google Suggest, which makes search suggestions in real time.
RIAs are also a great way to build rich, personalised applications for e-Learning. vizMatch is an online diagnostic tool that allows visitors to access your expertise in a more personalised manner. Visitors rate themselves against a series of criteria by simply dragging a series of sliders into position. Using rules generated from a decision table, the user's selections are used to generate personalised results. Click here for more information.
- Rich, personalised web experiences
- Using a variety of media types
- To create customer or learner-centric applications
- That retain the user's interest and loyalty