Re: Animation on a website

At 06:51 PM 4/4/98 -0600, you wrote:
>I have a good friend that despises nearly all new web medium. He uses
>Lynx as a browser almost exclusively, and when he does use NN4 he turns
>off all graphics, Javascript, Java, etc. He thinks that the internet
>should be only for information, not for lights and bells.

A perfectly valid usage, in my opinion. When I'm out looking for
information, I'm not looking for a good time full of bells, whistles, and
long download times. Such only take up time that I could better spend
otherwise.

>I'm the type of
>person who doesn't like to use ALT tags in IMG for people who have
>non-graphical browsers, because if they are shut off completely from
>this aspect of the web, they will eventually feel compelled to upgrade
>their browsing technology.

This attitude really disgusts me. Who are you to tell me what I should use
to access information? Who are you to deny this medium the visually
impaired and those who may have access only through their school or
library? These people (and many others) have very little choice as to what
technology they must use, and designers with attitudes such as yourself
make things increasingly difficult for them.

>I think people like my friend are missing 99%
>of the idea of the WWW.

No, I'd say it's you that is missing approximately 100% of the idea of the
WWW. One of the most important principles of the Web is "Universal
Readership". From a talk by Tim Berners Lee (creator of the World Wide Web)
[1]:

"The W3 principle of universal readership is that 
once information is available, it should be 
accessible from any type of computer, in any country, 
and an (authorized) person should only have to 
use one simple program to access it."

You are certainly missing this point. And with the advent of newer devices,
the scope of this principle will have to be even greater, encompassing
things such as WebTV and Web accessible phones as well as computers.

>After all, it was created to make information
>more accessible AND better looking.

You may be accomplishing the latter of those goals (and I'd question that
this was truly one of the goals for the creation of the WWW), but you are
sorely neglecting the former (which certainly was).

>So I say, go with the animation! Those few out there who don't like
>animations can just be web hermits like my friend. : )

Or they can just take their eyes (and business) somewhere more accommodating.

Best of luck,
Jason

[1] <http://www.w3.org/Talks/General.html>

---------------------------------------------------------
Jason M. Wallin             <mailto:jmwallin(at)whidbey.net>
Eternal Beta: A Resource for Web Authors
<http://www2.whidbey.net/jmwallin/>
Tips, articles, and resources for the serious Web author.

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