any viable solution to epilepsy inducing avatars ?

while i personally dont like avatars at all - i realise that many people do ,

but some are driving me to distraction - and literal discomfort

example one

example 2

my choices are not ` picking on the 2 members - but they are both active in a thread i am attempting to follow mainly because its so funny

but for crying out loud - do they need to be stroboscopic ??????????????

we already have enforced guidlines on size / political baiting / indecent images etc

how about :

" all avatars must be a static image "

surely ats members can express thier passions and creative streaks though a static image - without tramping thier right to free spech - cant they ?

barring that - can i personally block them without going to the extreme of the ` ats lite " low bandwidth option - without making the site look a mess and violating T&C by using blocking software ?

[edit on 25-1-2010 by ignorant_ape]

Hit the escape key and they will stop.

Originally posted by dainoyfb
Hit the escape key and they will stop.

LOL... that really works... good to know. I learned something today.

Constant wonders.... is the worst one ive experainced.

It does grind my gears.

Some can be a little over the top but I actually like some of them very much. Plan on making one for myself.

One of the classiest avatars I've seen was animated. Can't remember who's it was but it had a guy in a spooky building nervously looking left and right. Very creative and well made!

Most people don't realize it can do anything. My friend was eptileptic, we played rockband and he went into my living room and bam, on the floor flopping like a fish.

It can happen from any flashes.

I had to disable animated images in firefox because of this. they will go through one round but then stop. It's a good compromise I can see their artistic creation without having to block a page. Some I do like, but certain ones are very dangerous.

This link has an explanation on how to do it.

reply to post by dainoyfb


hey thanks - that at least allows me some respite - and permits me to read threads propperly

reply to post by dainoyfb


thanks,all the years on the web and never knew this.

If you think an animated avatar is seriously agrivating, especially for someone who sufferes from epilepsy, just hit the "ALERT" button and have staff check it out.

Constant Wonder's flashing avatar is incredible. Totally freaking awesome. Stupendous. Why hate it? You can't go around hating people's avatars.... oh, wait a minute.... they hated mine and banned me. Now I just have a blinky eye under a new name. HATERS!

reply to post by ignorant_ape


Enforcing a crippling of things you don't like is no way to get along in life, and it says a lot about you that one of your first thoughts when you have a problem with something is to limit the freedoms of other people. When a steadfast limitation on the creativity of other people is your first line of defense, there is precious little room left for compassion and acceptance.
Making rules for other people is wrong and is no way to get along in life.

P.S. those avatars are annoying as all heck and totally unnecessary. They do not look good, they are rude, and it's detracting from the content of any message posted by that avatar. But I still fully support them being allowed to exist.

I would suggest that it is a subtle art to create a good animation.
Most of them in fact turn out to be annoying eyesores. Once in a while there is a good one.

When it comes to motion in avatars, less is more. I've considered doing one, but until I can figure out how to limit the motion to something subtle and soothing I will resist.

I use the esc button a lot.

Wha-choooo Lookin' at ???

IRM

reply to post by dainoyfb


woot thanks, never known that!

tis makes reading a lot more pleasant !

I concur that flashy avatars can be a pain; I'm no epileptic but I'm easily distracted by the shiny. That may be a concentration problem but I find it hard to read through a long paragraph when there's a flashing avatar next to it.
I'm not saying that animated avatars should be banned, but can't we set a speed limit?

reply to post by wayno


Yeah , being a Cat Lover I always thought this one was very amusing for an Avatar , but I think it would just get " Old " after awhile ........



i297.photobucket.com...

[edit on 25 Jan 2010 by schrodingers dog]

I am an epileptic and I have quite a bit of problems with the strobe-like avatars. I have had police lights send me into a seizure. Right now, my left eye is partially blind because I stupidly looked at the avatars linked in the OP. The sight will return shortly.

This is not at all about hate. That's ridiculous. It's about avoiding an EXTREMELY uncomfortable and scary situation brought on by strobing. If you've never had a grand mal seizure, I suggest you try it before posting such ignorance.

I love animated avatars, as long as they are slow enough for my synapses to adjust.

I am thrilled to know about the escape key and the firefox prevention. I shall incorporate both immediately. Thank you.

And thanks ignorant_ape for this thread.

i read in the avatar guidelines that you are not supposed to have animated gifs as avatars. Animated gifs can be really good, but most are anoying and make my eyes feel weird so to point in cant read a thread if its got certain avatars in it as the flicker rate is too much i get headaches- im not epileptic yet can imagine what nightmare rapid flashing images can be like. i think for the most its just an anoying distraction in the corner of the eye. But thanks so much for the press ESC tip. thats got it!

the guideline for avatar is under 50k bytes for a 160x400px avatar. i have seen animated Avatars on ATS at 179k bytes.