Go to a website  Better Homes and Gardens Landscaping Software page and the first thing that happens is you hear a voice begin to describe the product.  Your heart my give a jump because it is unexpected - especially if your volume is turned up high.

Is this good business practice? In most cases, it is not.

Give visitors the control to run audio and video feeds.

Before you set audio or video to start playing upon a person entering your site, consider these situations where it might embarrass your visitor:

  • Browsing during a break at work
  • Browsing in a public area such as a library or wireless hot spot
  • Discretely shopping at home for a family member’s gift (can be overheard)
  • Parent browsing in a home with little children (the kids come running to see what is going on - the moment of peace is gone)

Finally, audio and video feeds (as well as multiple images) is not efficient for visitors using a dial-up connection, an iPhone, or some company firewalls.

This is especially of a video such as that on the Better Homes and Gardens Landscaping Software page.  Why run it if the visitor is not watching that portion of the screen?

These days, multiple web sites have similar information.

If your visitors are surprised by something unpleasant, this may deter them from coming back because they do not want to deal with turning off the sound.

Rather than going to your site to shop, they may spend time finding another more appealing site.

Are there exceptions?

Yes.  When I use iTunes, MediaPlayer, etc.

For websites, I expect video feeds at a TV broadcast site or when viewing previews of a movie.  I expect audio feeds when I go to NPR.  BUT I, the visitor, like to be in control.