Not sure this is the best way to do that but it works fine, is nice and clear:
function scrollByRate(y, rate)
{
//calculate the scroll height
var scrolling = Math.max( document.getElementsByTagName('html')[0].scrollTop, document.body.scrollTop);
//save the old value as "static" var
arguments.callee.tmp = arguments.callee.tmp || scrolling + y;
//make a little scrolling step
window.scrollBy(0, (arguments.callee.tmp - scrolling) / rate);
//are we arrived? if no, keep going recursively, else reset the static var
if(arguments.callee.tmp - scrolling > 100) setTimeout(function() { scrollByRate(y, rate); }, 10);
else arguments.callee.tmp = undefined;
}
Then your onclick will be like:
<a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="scrollByRate(1000,20)">Scrolling down slowly</a>
Try it here
function scrollByRate(y, rate) {
var scrolling = Math.max( document.getElementsByTagName('html')[0].scrollTop, document.body.scrollTop);
arguments.callee.tmp = arguments.callee.tmp || scrolling + y;
window.scrollBy(0, (arguments.callee.tmp - scrolling) / rate);
if(arguments.callee.tmp - scrolling > 100) setTimeout(function() { scrollByRate(y, rate); }, 10);
else arguments.callee.tmp = undefined;
}
p {
height:100px;
}
<p>
<a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="scrollByRate(500,20)">Scrolling down slowly</a>
</p>
<p>a</p>
<p>b</p>
<p>c</p>
<p>d</p>
<p>e</p>
<p>f</p>
<p>g</p>
<p>h</p>
<p>i</p>
<p>l</p>
Read here about static var in javascript