| Audio elements include voice-overs, sound
effects, and music.
On first entering a web page, the visitor takes in the overall
presentation of graphics and text. To get them to stay long
enough to create an emotional connection with the company,
products, or services presented on the page, takes a more
dynamic media. Audio elements are an ideal starting place
for this.
Voice Introduction - a quick 20 second introduction
to the page can draw attention to key elements or set a tone
for the page.
Music - can be used to “position”
the product or services by association. Fun music for a fun
product, children’s nursery tunes for baby shower sites
etc
Audio Assistants – Adding an audio
button for visitors to listen to voice presentations can draw
attention to key product features and customer satisfaction
money back guarantees. The tone of voice, again, positions
the product. Not just the words used. Most visitors find this
type of audio experience creates a more trusting connection
with the vendor. And that converts directly to increased customer
sales.
Adding an audio element to your website can increase your
response rate by 300%.
Types of Audio Files
Audio files can be saved in different file formats, including
MIDI, WAV, MP3 or Flash files. Some audio formats require
that visitors to your site download and install a helper application
or plug-in such as QuickTime, Windows Media Player, or RealPlayer.
Common Audio Formats
MIDI or MID (Musical Instrument Digital Interface)
- Used For - instrumental music such as
background sounds to play when pages open up.
- Browsers Supported - MIDI files are
supported by many browsers and don't require a plug-in.
- Sound quality – Good, but depends
upon the users sound card.
File - Files sizes are relatively small;
a small MIDI file can provide a long sound clip.
- Production - MIDI files cannot be recorded
and must be synthesized on a computer with special hardware
and software.
WAV (Waveform Extension)
- Used For – Limited use due to
file size
- Browsers Supported - don't require a
plug-in
- Sound Quality - good sound quality
- File – large file size severely
limits the length of sound clips for webpage use
- Production - You can record your own
WAV files from a CD, tape, microphone
AIF (Audio Interchange File Format, or AIFF)
Used For – limited use on web pages
due to file size. Use on intranets for replay of company meetings,
seminars, training.
Browsers Supported - can be played by most
browsers, and doesn't require a plug-in
Sound Quality - like WAV files, also has
good sound quality
File – large file size limits the
length of sound clips that you can use on your Web pages.
Production - can also record AIFF files
from a CD, tape, microphone, and so on.
MP3 [Motion Picture Experts Group Audio, or MPEG-Audio
Layer-3]
- Used For - use MP3 to convert large
stereo WAV/AIFF files to a more manageable format without
compromising on the sound quality. You can stream the file
so that a visitor doesn't have to wait for the entire file
to download before hearing it.
- Browsers Supported - To play MP3 files,
visitors must download and install a helper application
or plug-in such as QuickTime, Windows Media Player, or RealPlayer.
- Sound Quality - very good
- File – compressed format that
makes sound files substantially smaller. File size is larger
than a Real Audio file; takes long time to download over
56k dial up connection.
- Production - if an MP3 file is recorded
and compressed properly, it can rival a CD.
RA, RAM, RPM, or Real Audio
- Used For - Whole song files Because
the files can be streamed from a normal Web server, visitors
can begin listening to the sound before the file has completely
downloaded.
- Browsers Supported - Must download and
install RealPlayer or plug-in to play these files.
- Sound Quality - poorer than MP3 files,
but new players and encoders have improved quality considerably.
- File – very high degree of compression
with smaller file sizes than MP3. Can be downloaded in a
reasonable amount of time.
- Production -
AU, SND, or Sun or Java
- Used For - used exclusively for Java
applets and applications. Very popular on SUN/Unix machines.
- Browsers Supported - compatible across
platforms.
- Sound Quality -
- File – similar to the WAV and
AIFF formats
- Production -Compression is more flexible.
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