On 14 Jul 98, Jack Killpatrick wrote:
> Ditto. I was using the back button earlier today to go back to a site that
> was around 5 or six pages back and got jammed at one of those autorefresh
> splash screens. Couldn't get past it without selecting one of the history
> items earlier in the list. Someone mentioned this as being another reason
> not to use them and ironically I was annoyed by one today.
Goodness... first I was "Other", now I'm "Someone". What's next, "None of
the Above"? <g>
Anyway, yes, getting users stuck in this "refresh loop" is one big reason to
avoid splash screens of that sort, certainly.
Meta-refresh falls into a larger (and undesirable) category of Web tricks
that I think of as "forcing things on the user", in this case taking him to a
URL he may not especially want to go to. Other egregious examples are:
requiring a specific browser/screen size/plug-in to view the page;
autostarting an audio file; imposing clunky, browser-busting applets;
monster graphics files; and all the other stock "top ten mistakes" kinda
things.
As I design sites I always have three basic questions running through my
mind as I try various effects and techniques, and if I heed them the site
usually turns out OK:
(1) Does this addition have any essential function, or is it just eye-candy?
(2) Will it work on most browsers, without plug-ins or a specified OS?
(3) Does it give the user a clear and unambiguous choice as to what he or
she can do next?
It's been with a tear in my rheumy old eye that I've sometimes discarded
snappy little graphical tricks that I may have spent many hours toying
with, because they don't ultimately meet my own criteria; but my sites are
the better for it, I think.
-----------
Brent Eades, Almonte, Ontario
E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Town of Almonte site: http://www.almonte.com/
Business site: http://www.federalweb.com
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