How Sound is Transforming Website Design
Even if often overlooked, the importance of sound design in website design cannot be overemphasised. Think about it: can you imagine playing your favourite online game sans the sound effects? How about watching a movie with little to no volume on? Although the effects of sound design are often subtle, they contribute a lot to enriching the entertainment experience of users.
Sound is used to create mood. Some sounds make you hold your breath as you watch your movie, while others lighten the mood a great deal. Certain sounds are used to induce an emotional response. Overall, sound design enhances visual design considerably.
How Does Sound Improve Website Design?
Sound effects are prominent in many online games, world web experience and world building models. The music that accompanies scores is often one of the most stimulating features of playing such games. Most times as you play your game, there will be music playing in the background. This music goes a long way in making the game much more engaging.
Most sites and applications that make use of animations also rely heavily on sound design. Many websites are also relying on audios for meaningful user feedback as well as signals. Additionally, sound design is used to communicate much faster than visuals alone can do in critical times.
There are a host of websites that use sound design for alerts, notifications and to show errors. Some of these include Facebook. Some applications are heavily reliant on audios, such as Skype which is a video communication tool. AI’s such as Siri and Alexa also primarily use sound design to carry out their roles.
Sound design is also used to make learning easier for those who have learning difficulties. In the same breath, it is also used to help people with various disabilities to learn better.
Given that internet connectivity is at its best at the moment, this is a great time to invest in sound design. There are myriad uses for sound design in website design. Sound design can help make your site far more interactive and useful to visitors. Here are the major audio file formats that you may include in your site:
Major Audio File Formats Used in Website Design
MP3 Format
This is a compressed audio format, where the maximum audio data is fitted into the available space. This is the audio format that you should aim to use often.
The WAVE
The wave is an uncompressed audio file format. These files generally take up a lot of space. They often come with the .wav extension.
FLAC
This is somewhat a cross between the WAV and MP3 file format. It is an uncompressed file format where silence is done away with. It is larger than an MP3 file, but smaller than a WAV one.
Ogg Theora Verbis
This is an audio file format that is supported in most desktops and mobiles, with the exception of IE and iOS operating systems.
Conclusion
Current trends in website design demand the inclusion of sound design. This is because sound design is constantly proving to be invaluable in the world of website design. There is no reason why you shouldn’t include sound design to your site: it will prove to be worth it over the long haul.