Sites with sound

[Wozza]

Apart from as an accessibility thing (for the blind and so on) is sound on a web site ever a good thing?
I've only ever seen it on horrible sideways-scrolling cheap-and-nasty created-with-Frontpage-Express pages, when it suddenly bursts into life and crushes my Floyd to the ground with some terrifying jingly evil...ehm... Well, I'm sure you've all seen it, anyway.

So, is there a valid use for sound in web design (apart from, as I said, as an option for folks who can't view a page in the normal way)

Cheers-
Wozza

[DaveSW]

sound and video or just sound?

some ww2 museums sites are quite effective when they start playing radio programs about the particular period when you log into the page...

Again, if it's a music site, it would make sense to play or have the option of playing the track you're talking about...

But plain background music unrelated to the business in hand doesn't really fit for me.

[AdamGundry]

Agreed - don't bother with background music, but some content can be effectively presented using audio - presentations, for example. However, make sure your users choose to download the file and listen (rather them having it inflicted on them), and if possible provide a text alternative.

Adam

P.S. My favourite website with sound: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/progs/listenagain.shtml

[Robert Wellock]

Unless the user is expecting audio, generally it is best not to embed it in a page with autostart enabled.