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<Now our CTO is
suggesting that we add a voice-over element that "reads" the text in the
text-box.
I really see no reason to do this; to me, voice-overs are distracting.>
While voice-overs have a whole bunch of inherent problems (getting good
voice talent, recording and editing audio -- though our A/V guy makes it
look easy, compressing it so it still sounds goodover the web), we do have
some clients who insist on audio that replicates the text on the page. In
most cases, the clients are concerned about the reading skills of the target
users. As a writer, it's easy to lose sight of the fact that many people do
not have stellar reading skills (and they can be at the highest levels of an
organization) - not to mention that there are many people with reading
disabilities. In addition, I hope that the insistence on audio is a nod to
users' varying learning styles; not all people learn from reading. (Some are
more auditory, while others are hands-on.) Finally, since web usability
experts claim that users read only 60% of what is on the screen anyway
(though this is more for text-based screens rather than Flash-based screens
heavy with interactions and animations), we writers have to be aware that
our clearest most painstakingly well-written writing is not always being
read carefully or thoroughly.
All this theoretical stuff aside, here's an idea for you: maybe you can
include a button that will read the textbox text for those who want it.
This way you can limit the number of elements that come up automatically,
hopefully focusing the user on the task at hand. For those users who are
unsure what to do next, or who'd rather hear the text, they can click the
audio button.
Much more than two cents.
Joy
******************************
Joy Arbor
Project Manager/Senior Editor
Iconceptual
408.328.6007
joy -at- iconceptual -dot- com
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