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I guess telling your client they're nuts didn't get you anywhere? I also assume that telling them they are crippling the most important page on their site didn't work either?
don't know of any links myself but figured I would welcome you and give this a little bump. ;)
research about the number of people who simply skip Flash intros
Your own logs should tell the story:
How many visits start with a request to your flash intro and end with the same page? Those people hit the back button. (generalizing)
If you need to track how many click the "skip intro" link just differentiate the link at the end of the flash intro from the skip intro link, like so:
[mydomain.com...]
[mydomain.com...]
Then you can see for the site in question the real numbers. :D
Good tip about the log, I'll look at this BUT it would be really useful if I could point at something published!
I completely understand "appealing to a higher authority." The log method is only if the client responds with, "well that may be true for other sites -- but not for mine."
Now to give you some ammo for your original question:
Provide a "skip" option to allow users to skip over a Flash introduction animation (commonly known as a splash page). Better yet, skip the splash page. Most users (approximately 94 percent) do so when given the option.
Flash: 99% Bad "Splash pages were an early sin of abusive Web design. Luckily, almost all professional websites have removed this usability barrier."
Avoid Unnecessary Intros
While intro animations are exciting, they often delay the user's access to the information they seek. ... On their second visit to your home page, skip the intro animation altogether...
[toondoctor.com...]