Voice-over in online tutorials - opinions?

[aschiff -at- factset -dot- com]

Hello,

Background:
My group is involved with creating online tutorials for a number of our
software applications. These tutorials contain a mix of text, static
images, and interactive elements (done in Flash) in which a user can:
* View a demo of the feature being discussed
* Try it out themselves

In both the "demo" and the "try it" scenarios, there are small boxes of
text that appear describing what's going on (and, in the case of the "try
it," tell the user what to do.)

Issue:
We've had very good results so far with these tutorials.  Now our CTO is
suggesting that we add a voice-over element that "reads" the text in the
text-box.
I really see no reason to do this; to me, voice-overs are distracting.
Also, our software changes frequently and having to change the voice-over
would add significantly to our turnaround time, and it would create larger
files & longer download times.

Has anyone experienced this same issue? Any advice or insights on the
trade-offs? Does it really enhance the user experience? Is it worth the
time (that we could be spending on something else, like creating more
tutorials?)

Thanks,
Abby Schiff


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