On occasion some of my custom website designs include animated gifs, and Xara Xtreme is my software of choice. In general, I am opposed to website animations unless they serve a significant purpose.

Wild or flashy animated gif graphics may violate issues of website accessibility, which may sound strange at first. Actually fast moving graphics may cause seizures in persons with epilepsy, so the decision involves much more than good taste.

I recently created two examples that met my guidelines because first, they were cute, and secondly, each served a practical purpose. Rather than feature each here out of context, you may view my examples created in Xara Xtreme on the actual websites to get the full effect.

The buzzing blowfly in the upper left of the top banner at Australian social bookmarking site Flyblown.com.au was requested by Ric Raftis, the website owner, who is a good friend and fellow custom web developer. The meaning escaped my grasp until he explained that “flyblown” is an Australian term and common euphemism Down Under.

Next, for Roll Screen Solutions in Orlando, Florida, the animation is a product demo of one of their garage door screens in operation. A still photo simply couldn’t convey the ease of operation for the retractable door screen, so the animation demonstrated the product with a twist. The animal actor in the demo is the real star.

Using Xara Xtreme the first animated gif was done with 2 frames. The roll screen demo required 36 frames which means 36 separate drawings. Each was done in kind at no charge as statements of gratitude, personal and business.