Everyone loves CSS animations but they're breaking basic functionality

I keep seeing people showing off flashy fade-in effects on their portfolios, but nobody talks about how those animations make the page unresponsive for 2-3 seconds on mobile. Had a client in Chicago last week who couldn't even click the navigation because their hero animation was blocking it. Am I the only one who thinks animations should be a last resort?

2 comments

2 Comments

patricia_wright17d ago

75% of the time these animation issues are just bad implementation, not the animations themselves. I've seen plenty of sites with smooth fade-ins that work fine on a 3G connection because the developer actually tested them before launch. Your client's problem sounds like someone just slapped a few keyframes on some elements without considering timing or visibility settings. Animations don't have to be the enemy, they just need to be done right with proper fallbacks. It's like blaming screwdrivers for stripped screws instead of the person using the wrong size.

parker16816d ago

Wait, isn't that exactly why people hate on animations though? Most developers just aren't going to put that much care into them.