When I went to MERLIN, I remembered right away a big reason why I don't like that site. I HATE that talking avatar that starts its spiel (loudly) as soon as the page loads. In fact, I hate anything that starts playing as soon as any web page loads. If I visit a site out there in web-land that has embedded theme music, or some video or embedded application that starts running by itself, I instantly click the back button or close the window. I just really hate that stuff. Sensory assault. It's fine to embed that kind of content in your page- in fact, that's what 2.0 is all about. But nettiquite should tell you that auto-play (except for unobtrusive Flash intros, perhaps), is a no-no. Give your user the chance to fully load the page, orient their eyeballs, and decide that they're ready to click-to-play your content. Especially if it's noisy. Sheesh, you MERLIN people. We all work in libraries, for goodness sake. We can't have sound just start blaring out of our speakers without warning.
Update:
The talking avatar doesn't seem to be there anymore. She appears to have been displaced by the MERLIN Site Supporters. I feel much better now.
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1 comment:
i agree! unless i am at the library, it freezes my computer or takes to long and sometimes it requires software that is not on our computer so yes i like having an option to play or skip ahead. i like that. well, i am glad it is gone.
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