Your Online Presence > Delivering Services Through Your Website, Strategy & Development

An Introduction to Effective Use of Audio on the Web

By Simon Fairway, Juvi Media

This article provides an overview of the major issues to consider when using audio on your website. It explores reasons for using audio in websites, and outlines the major points to consider, including equipment and editing options, major file formats, different distribution options and some of the legal and accessibility issues.

Introduction

In recent years, advances in technology have allowed websites to evolve from an online ‘brochure’ containing text and pictures, into a richer multimedia experience involving audio and video. New computers come with onboard sound cards and speakers as standard, making access to this content easy. Yet few charities make the most of this opportunity to reach their audience with an alternative medium.

Intelligent use of audio can help to make a charity’s message more engaging.  It can help people understand the organisation on a deeper level, encouraging a stronger sense of loyalty. A recorded interview can bring a case study to life, and podcasts are an excellent way of maintaining regular contact with supporters.

When choosing how to incorporate audio into their web strategy, organisations need to consider many factors including budget, accessibility, and quality.  Some level of compromise is needed between these, but a great deal can be achieved with a bit of knowledge and a modest budget.

Recording Equipment

The first consideration is how to capture the audio content that will be used in your production. This could be an interview, a speech, or even a musical performance. There are microphone options for a range of budgets, but you can get started for a relatively small investment. When it comes to choosing a microphone, it is important to consider where and how you will be capturing audio.  Will you be setting up a small studio within your office? Or are you likely to be recording audio on the move?

Onboard Microphone or External Microphone:

This is the cheapest set-up, and is an option if you are keen to test out the medium without spending very much money. This involves recording audio onto your computer using either the computers in-built microphone, or by plugging in a microphone directly into the computer. You can purchase these from any electrical retailer, with prices starting from around £10.

One problem is that there is no amplification of the audio signal before it enters the computer, so you may find your signal is too quiet or it contains lots of ‘noise’.  Secondly, you will find it difficult to combine the input of sound from more than one source, which is a problem if you are looking to carry out an interview, for example.

USB Computer Pre-Amp and XLR Microphone: 

If you are planning to set up a mini studio within your office, then this is a good, reasonably priced option. You can purchase a good pre-amp from M Audio for around £80, and a professional quality XLR microphone for a similar amount from any specialist music shop.

Using this setup, you can record CD quality sound directly onto your computer.  The pre-amp can combine inputs from a number of microphones simultaneously and will ensure that a strong audio signal is delivered to your computer. A good microphone will keep adverse noise to a minimum.

Minidisc Recorder and Microphone:

An excellent option for any charity that will be capturing audio content from ‘the field’. The use of a Minidisc recorder and a good quality microphone has become a favoured setup for journalists, because of the portable nature of the equipment and the near CD quality sound. Minidisc recorders are available from around £100 from Minidisco, and good quality microphones start from around £40.

Flash Memory Recorder and Microphone: 

This is another good portable option that is used by many journalists. Prices start from around £50, but be sure to buy one that records in an uncompressed (.wav or .aiff) format. The Roland R-09 is a good mid-range option.

Editing Equipment

Once you have recorded your content, you will need to edit it together, adjust volume levels and apply filters, and add music. There is free software that you can use for this, but if you are looking to produce something of really high quality, you may want to go for one of the professional packages. Some good options are:

Audacity: 

Audacity is a good, free, open source tool that has become the software of choice amongst the amateur podcasting community. If you are looking to experiment with creating audio, without wanting to make an initial investment, it is perfect.

You can record sound via an onboard or external microphone and edit it using an intuitive timeline. You can also import sound files in a variety of common formats and it is possible to adjust volume levels and use filters to reduce noise or add effects. As with any free software, Audacity has its problems in terms of compatibility and a lack of “conventional” technical support (help is available through discussion forums).

Garageband:

Most recent Apple computers will have the Garageband software included in their software bundle. With a simple and intuitive interface, you can get excellent results without having to invest too much time in getting to know the software. You have control over most aspects of the sound, and there are plenty of royalty free ‘loops’ of music that you can use.

Adobe Audition or Apple Soundtrack Pro:

If you want to produce a more professional audio production, these are good options.

Music Options

Intelligent use of music adds texture to an audio production. You can use it as a sound bed for interviews and reports, or as a ‘segue’ between features. There are number of options available to you:

Creative Commons / Podsafe Music:

There are a plethora of websites from which you can download music that is covered by a ‘Creative Commons’ license (sometimes called ‘Podsafe’ music).  Generally, you will be free to use this music in any non-commercial project. The overall quality tends to be lower than the other options. Start by trying Creative Commons or Jamendo.

Royalty-Free Music:

This is another good simple low-cost option. Under this system, you pay a one off fee to the producers of the music, and are then free to use the music as much as you like and in as many ways as you choose without incurring any additional fees. Prices start from around £5 per track. IB Audio and Q Music have a fairly good and affordable selection.

Production Music:

If you have a higher budget, then you may want to go for this better quality option. There is a rich and eclectic selection available to suit any type of production. Extreme Music is a good place to start.

Clearance

It is important that you have clearance for all elements of your audio content.  This includes any individuals who are the subject of reports or case studies, or anyone that is interviewed. These individuals will need to sign a ‘release. A good example can be found at the Media College website.

File Formats

Any files that have the extension .wav or .aiff are in an uncompressed form.  Unfortunately, these files are not really suitable for the Internet because they tend to have large file sizes (around 1MB for every 10 seconds of audio).

There are a many ways of compressing audio into smaller files sizes. For use on the Internet it is usually necessary to use a ‘lossy’ form of compression (such as MP3 or AAC), in which you can achieve a reduction in file sizes of as much as 95%. As the name suggests, there is a drop-off in quality when audio is compressed by this amount, and it is important to balance this off against the reduction in file size.

When you make audio content available through your website, your primary concern should be how to make it as accessible as possible to your visitors. If you have a lot of visitors from low-income families or developing countries, many of them may be using a slow broadband or dial-up connection. You need to take this into account when you decide the quality, and therefore size of file you are provide.

The best way to gauge accessibility is by considering the ‘bit rate’ of the audio file. The bit rate is the number of ‘bits’ of information that are required to be transmitted per second to access an audio file. The more the file is compressed, the lower the bit rate. The idea is to try to keep the bit rate of audio files below the connection speeds of the vast majority of your audience. For example if the majority of your audience is likely to be using a dial-up connection, then you should try to keep your audio bit rate well below 56 Kilobits per second (Kbps).  Similarly if the majority of you audience is likely to have a good broadband connection (generally around 1Mbps and above), then you can go for higher quality 96kbps or 128 kbps without any worry. 

Distribution

Once you have compressed your audio into an appropriate file format and size, you are ready to upload it to your website. You can link to this file from anywhere on your website. You can make your audio content appear more professional by making it play through a Flash player embedded on your website.  Wimpy offer an innovative and affordable version.

The capacity to provide downloadable audio content through a website will be available on the vast majority of standard hosting packages, so it should not cost you any extra money. If it suddenly becomes very popular however, you may need to upgrade your package. 

As people become more used to listening to audio content, both music and spoken word, and portable music players have become more ubiquitous, the growth in popularity of podcasts has been rapid. Podcasting is a great medium for organisations that are intending to produce and distribute content on a regular basis. Once the audio content has been created, the process of turning it into a podcast is relatively straightforward. You have a couple of options:

The cheapest and most versatile way to podcast, is to use a combination of a blog and a ‘feed generator’. Your starting point is to get your audio files uploaded onto the Internet. You can use one of the many free hosting sites, such as Our Media, or host the files on your own website. You then link to these files on your blog, and submit the address of you blog to a feed generator such as Feedburner, who will generate the RSS feed that your listeners ‘subscribe’ to through iTunes or any other podcatching software. Once your podcast is up and running, you need to make sure that is submitted to all of the major podcast directories, a good source is Podcasting News.

If you want a one-stop shop that will be free from any hassle, then the best option is to go for a fully hosted podcasting package. Liberated Syndication and Podcast FM are good options. Basic packages start from around £5 per month. You can upload your MP3 audio files through a web-based interface, and add additional information (such as the author, title, and category). The hosting company will then automatically generate the RSS feed for you, and provide full reporting on who is listening to your podcast.

Accessibility

It is important to consider accessibility when you are considering including audio on your website. Reaching the international standards of best practice will not always be possible, so a pragmatic approach is important.  Try to ensure:

• Audio is included only if it enhances the message.
• Audio is embedded into a page with suitable controls for ease of use. A simple way of doing this is to use a Flash player (see section on Distribution above for details)
• Links to audio content include the format, file size, and length in minutes and seconds.
• An alternative delivery method is provided. Users may not be able to listen to audio but still require the information. Speech should be accompanied by a text transcript.
  

Further resources

For examples of podcasting in action in voluntary organisations, Cancer Research UK has a good monthly podcast for their supporters. There’s also a good story on the BBC website about UK charity Practical Action using podcasts in a very different way.

Finally, for a good step by step guide to creating podcasts on a budget visit How to Podcast.