“Leave the site. Never return to the site.” This is how a recent respondent to my online survey (http://j.mp/sitesound) said he was likely to react upon encountering a website with audio. The additional option “It depends what kind of audio” was not checked. Whatever sound issued unprompted from his speakers, this respondent would be gone and he would not be back.
When last checked, interim survey results showed 15% of respondents would be likely to leave the site on encountering audio, and up to 30% would likely turn the speakers off. Only 44% overall – a good proportion but still less than I would have expected – said it would depend what kind of audio. This suggests to me that some people have a kneejerk antagonism to the whole concept of sound on the web.
How have such strong feelings evolved? I remember harbouring a similar grudge against Flash graphics a few years back, when some web designers considered it clever/cool to implement entire sites as a barrage of whooshing, flashing gimmickry without apparent consideration of navigation or quality of content. Now, such sites seem to be much less common and I view Flash not as the devil incarnate but as a way of implementing particular features wherever in a site they may be useful. Will attitudes to web audio mellow similarly as more mature implementations shift the balance from annoying to useful/appealing?
Specifically media focussed websites aside, my impression is that “incidental” use of audio on the web (background music, ambience, sound effects etc) has actually declined over the past few years, no doubt partly because designers have been made more aware of the dangers of annoying visitors. I have also yet to find a (non media specific) website that uses sound for aesthetic appeal in a way that makes me think, unequivocally: ‘That’s good. That’s unlikely to annoy people.’ Nonetheless, enthusiasm for audio remains strong in some quarters, not least at the cutting edge of web development.
Interim survey results showed that 47% of respondents think web audio can be helpful or appealing. 83% say there should always be an on-screen volume control. There have also been many comments suggesting that audio should never play of its own accord, but should require an opt-in. When thinking about putting audio on websites, developers should consider seriously to what extent its benefits outweigh its potential to put visitors off, and how to give site users the maximum amount of control over playback.
