Sound Loops

Before we go anywhere with this one, you need to know right up front that I have a very bad attitude about sound loops! I don't even like recorded voices on websites, nor do I like sound effects. They bug me, when all of a sudden this website starts blatting or blaring at me!

They bother me so badly that I usually keep my laptop muted. Otherwise every time I get onto a site where something talks, sings, or croons, the kids come running over to say, "What's that?". Now, not that I have anything to hide, but I don't like for my work to disturb the entire household.

It is important in this rant to point out that I am not the only person who feels this way. And even if I were, I am NOT the only person to grumble about Sound Loops!

The problem with sound loops is that they are usually set to loop "forever" or "infinitely". I got onto a memorial site once (looking for info when we lost our daughter), and it started playing Amazing Grace. Now, the first two times through, it was tolerable. But the story was long, and covered several pages, each of which had that sound loop running in the background, and by the 12th time it cycled through, I was ready to strangle the very nice mother who had added it to the site as a tribute to her daughter. I'm not picking on anyone here, because as I tripped through memorial sites, I encountered no less than 5 sites with Amazing Grace looping in the background, and a good many more sites with other sentimental songs endlessly repeating.

Sound loops also bloat a page, making it take much longer to download. Some people may move on to another page before the sound even fully loads. When you are using multiple browser windows it is very hard to tell which one the sound is coming from, because it starts to blare the minute it finishes loading, whether that page is on top or not!

The solution for sound loops is very simple. Besides the usual rule of not using them unless it is for a significant reason, there is one other thing to do:

NEVER, EVER, EVER set the sound to loop forever! Set it to loop for 2, perhaps 3 times. That is enough! The audience can appreciate it fully, without being stuck in it.

I have been truly appreciative of site owners who have recordings on their site, which have controls to shut it off. I don't like coming into a site, starting to read, and then having a voice start telling me what is on the page anyway. I'd rather read.

Some people WOULD rather hear it. Fine and dandy, but give me a choice.

It is great that the web is ever more dynamic and flexible, but in using the capabilities, we must make sure that they are not used in a way that drives people nuts!

Written by Laura Wheeler