How to Add Sound Effects to Web Clip Art
Sound effects should be used sparingly on websites. Many visitors find music and sound effects unnecessary and irritating, so always be sure your decision to add sound to your website is carefully considered.
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Instructions
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Add Sound to Your Clip Art
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Code your web image to play a sound when clicked. Use a simple "A HREF" tag that refers to a sound file on your website's directory, with your "IMG" tag creating a link that plays the sound file when the image is clicked.
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Add text to your clip art that corresponds to the sound it will play or that informs visitors what will happen when clicking on the web image.
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Convert your sound files to midi or wav format to make them smaller while maintaining sound quality. As a rule, midi format is better for music files while wav is more appropriate for speech.
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Keep in mind that like clip art, sound files have strict copyright restrictions. Be sure that you are authorized to use the web sound files you've chosen before adding them to your directory. A variety of free midi and wav files is available online--without copyright restrictions.
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Test your sound effects on a set of computer speakers to make sure the volume level is appropriate before adding them to your site. You do not want to startle your visitors with an unexpected burst of volume.
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Use short sound loops, played on repeat, rather than full songs for clip art sound effects on your website. Sound files of full songs, likely to be several minutes in length, will take significantly longer for your visitors to download than shorter sound loops, which will only need to download once to be played repeatedly.
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Tips & Warnings
Many visitors to your site may prefer to have the option to turn the sound effects on in the first place. Though HTML code exists that automatically plays sound effects as soon as a visitor opens your webpage, it is best to use the method in which the user clicks on an image to make the sound play.
Do not link to a sound file on another website. Always upload the file directly to your own directory, so that you can ensure the link is active. This also ensures that you do not steal bandwidth from another person's site.
