I have found that the line seems to whether the video is embedded or not. For example, when I go directly to youtube and click on a video there, it starts automatically. If the youtube video is embedded in a blog, it does not start until you click it. I think there are three good reasons for this:
One is, as you mentioned, there is content to read, which may influence the user's decision to watch the video. Second, there may be many videos on the blog, and the user does not want them all to start at the same time. Third, when going to YouTube the user knows that they are going to get a video, so clicking on the link is a tacit decision to watch the video. If I go to a blog, the user may not expect to get a video, and it would be interruptive to have it play without a decision being made on the user's part. That said, I think it comes down to how important the video content is. If it is sort of "ambient" AND it is the only video on the page, then it probably doesn't matter if it starts automatically. But if it contains important information, then you probably want the user to direct the action. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=33377 ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
