Take the &%@#*!$ Audio off of your sites

At the very least give users the option to turn it off. I am a big fan of interactive websites and I honestly don't have a problem with webmasters who put audio on their sites that add to the user experience. My problem is with the sites that load and run an audio file every time you enter the site especially those that don't allow users to stop the audio or at least mute it. I get especially irate when the audio is unreasonably loud.

This is even more aggravating when I am at work. Nothing like opening a site only to be bombarded with irritating music or worse yet some talking head speaking as loud as they can. While all my coworkers are looking at me I am trying to find something to make it stop. If I am lucky I willl find a mute button or a button to stop the file from playing. Unfortunately some webmasters feel that if you are on their site you MUST listen to their audio and they provide no way of stopping it. I leave as soon as I can click the back button and blacklist that site forever.

I am not saying not to add audio to your site but if you don't want to alienate your visitors you should either offer a awy to turn it off or better yet allow users the option to hear the audio. I suppose there are a few people that don't mind automatically loading audio files but I imagine most people do not like them and like me will avoid sites that do it. Get rid of the audio files and maybe you will have happier visitors and a lower bounce rates. Just stop now.