TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:RE: web animation From:bryan -dot- westbrook -at- amd -dot- com To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Wed, 13 Mar 2002 10:20:38 -0600
Don't use them.
Well, maybe for a personal site for practice, but I have yet to see them used in a productive manner for anything other than an entertainment site. They can be annoying, slow down the reader's progress through the site (especially Flash), and can cause some serious accessibility problems if you use them as part of the navigation.
Oh, and whatever you do, please don't use any sound that starts automatically. If this is a technical site, your readers are likely to be sitting in cubicles with neighbors that don't want to hear a midi file of the latest Britney Spears tune every time your page is accessed. I have also seen sound files that were incorrectly implemented actually crash a browser.
Then there are issues of copyright and of accessibility for the hearing impaired if the sound is giving necessary information. Sound also takes a while to load. On a dialup connection, an MP3 file can take 10 minutes per minute of sound to load, and the average MP3 (128 kbps) is only 1/11th the size of an equivalent wav file.
-----Original Message-----
From: Kelly Werner [mailto:kwerner -at- eaglesoft -dot- net]
Sent: Wednesday, March 13, 2002 10:06 AM
To: TECHWR-L
Subject: web animation
I'm soon to enter the world of web building as part of my tech
writing duties. I'm learning the basics (direct HTML and FrontPage) but
wanted to ask our panel of experts: What would you recommend for animation
and other flourishes?
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Check it out! Get some cool freebies when you buy RoboHelp! You'll receive
SnagIt screen capture software and a 10% discount voucher for RoboHelp
Consulting. This special offers expires March 29, 2002.
www.ehelp.com/techwr
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
