Expanding Content with Multimedia Multimedia: Future or Folly? Remember 1981?

Expanding Content with Multimedia

Multimedia: Future or Folly?

• Remember 1981?


Goals for today:

– Introduce the potential of multimedia content• Discuss fad vs. function

– Explore the possible audiences served – Guidelines for creating multimedia content– Demonstrate multimedia content in use on

various statewide websites– Answer questions about how to create content,

post and maintain multimedia content.


What is Multimedia?Simple concept when broken down

Multi + media =

use of more than one kind of media to deliver information in new ways

Generally implies digital media


Multimedia examples What have you used in the last week?

• Web pages with pictures

• Online encyclopedia with hyperlinks

• Video clips of news stories

• Animated tutorials


Online multimedia gone crazy?

• July 2006 – 5.1 million videos on YouTube August 2006 – grown to 6.1 million

• Total views were 1.73 billion – Lee Gomes – Wall Street Journal Online

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB115689298168048904-5wWyrSwyn6RfVfz9NwLk774VUWc_20070829.html?mod=rss_free


Fad vs. Function

• A look at online news content:– 2002 most newspaper websites looked like

print newspapers– 2003 few news papers were updating content

more than once a day. (Univ. of Texas 2004 study –

– 2004 online news and newspapers posting full video news stories.

– 2006 – photo galleries, audio reports, web-only video clips


Fad vs. Function

• Is multimedia content useful?– Life-cycles of new technologies

• Initial peak of interest – disillusionment – understanding and integration - productivity

• Is it worth the resources to develop?


Discussion points

• What websites have the best balance of helpful but not distracting media content?

• What type of online media do you find to be most useful?– Most distracting?

• What type of content have you considered for your website – and why?


Why use multimedia?

• Making sense of complex issues

• Reaching new audiences

• Serving current audience better– Low literacy– LEP– People with disabilities


Making Sense of Complex Issues

• Lessons from health and education– Use animation and diagrams to explain steps

in a process.– Provide multiple formats of the same

information (ie text and audio)

• http://www.mercksource.com/pp/us/cns/cns_home.jsp#


Accessibility

• Myth: All multimedia content on a website is “inaccessible”

• Fact: Multimedia content can make the site more accessible to many users.


Accessibility: Considerations

• Consider the accessibility advantages and disadvantages for a given technology:– Who will be served by the technology– Who will be unable to use the technology– Is there a way to make it more accessible

• Use all accessible features of the technology you use to create multimedia.

• Provide a text description for multimedia files.


Access

Myth: Low income audiences will never be able to use multimedia content because they don’t have the right “equipment”

Fact: 1. Not all multimedia requires a high speed connection.

2. While hardware will affect some users, the site can be designed in a way where multimedia compliments, not replaces other content.


Access Considerations

Is broadband/high speed required to view the content?

What software (and plug-ins) does the user need?

Are certain files or formats better for an audience with both dial-up and high speed users?


Before you begin


Multimedia built for the web

• Multimedia content (just like all content) should be designed for the web – not just “recycled” and posted.

• Choose your format to best match the goal of the content (i.e. teach, practice, play, etc.)

• When adding media avoid a cluttered site keep it clean




Looking at different types of media:

• Video

• Animation

• Interactive Animation

• Webcasting


Video

• Information or news vs. training

• Make sure your audience knows what to expect – length of video, time to download type of video, type of content and intended audience.


Guidelines for creating online video content:

• Avoid using video if the content doesn't take advantage of the medium's dynamic nature. – Better for things that work better on film than

they would as a combination of photos and text.



• Recognize that Web users are easily distracted, and keep distracting elements out of the frame of your shots.

- Jacob Neilson

http://www.useit.com/alertbox/video.html



• Avoid just the “talking head” – Doesn’t mean “no talking head” videos – but

add written content to supplement and assist the audience.

• Keep it short.

- Jacob Neilson

http://www.useit.com/alertbox/video.html


Legal Aid online videos

Illinois going to court video


Webcasting

What is webcasting?

• Webcasting allows statewide website administrators to capture and stream live or archived audiovisual content over the internet.

• Using a Flash-based tool created by Illinois Legal Aid Online, a user can webcast content using only a webcam and a laptop with a broadband internet connection.

• Potential uses of this tool include producing online trainings for legal services advocates and pro bono attorneys, as well as developing pro se content for clients.


Webcasting vs. Video

• Think of as two different types of media –– Webcasting captures a live meeting/training

audience should expect that.– Video produced for the web should follow

web guidelines.

• For both provide information for your audience on what to expect (i.e. length of time, this is a lecture, etc.)


Legal Aid Webcasting

• Illinois visitation plan in Spanish


Animation

• Flash – most common for use on websites

• Why?– Explain complex issues– Dynamic– Attracts attention


Legal Aid Animation

• www.washingtonlawhelp.org


The future of online content?

Interactivity:

• Feedback to stories: – Washington Post now allows online comments

to ALL posted news stories.– Content ratings– Content organized based on views (i.e. most

popular, Amazon.com if you liked this then….)


Interactive Animation

• Allows a person to respond and interact.


A2J

What is A2J?

• Developed by the Center for Access to Justice and Technology, Chicago-Kent College of Law

• Software to develop custom user-friendly interfaces for document assembly

• Leads users through an interview with visual and audio cues

• Compatible with NPADO server• Can be integrated with statewide websites


A2J in use: some examples

• Idaho Legal Aid: Answer to an Eviction

http://www.idaholegalaid.org/Home/PublicWeb/SelfHelpTemp/LTAnsEvictCmplt

• Iowa Remote Intake

• Other uses / examples?


How does A2J work?

• A2J Author -- desktop authoring tool used to create interview

• Uses graphical flow chart and branch mapping

• The completed A2J interview is uploaded to the NPADO server and combined with corresponding HotDocs form

• Macromedia Flash 7 (a standard browser plug-in) required to view interviews


Want to learn more?

• Visit the Center for Access to Justice and Technology:http://www.kentlaw.edu/cajt/A2JAuthor.html

• January 2006 LSTechie Article on A2Jhttp://www.lsntap.org/?q=node/305


Pulling it all together

• A look at Illinois Legal Aid Online– Animation– Interactive Animation– Webcasting– Video


Keeping it Simple and Up-to-date

• Alaska LawHelp


Example: Alaska LawHelp• Presentation with an American Sign Language

translation embedded (the video files are embedded into the PowerPoint slides as .avi files).

http://www.alaskalawhelp.org/documents/clusters/AK/131/English/frame.htm

• While we could have used Flash for this, we opted for inexpensive and easily-obtainable software (PowerPoint and Windows Movie Maker).


Content Maintenance

• Consider – how will the content be updated?– Does the whole piece have to be recreated if

one part is outdated?

• The Alaska Experience


Common plug-ins to view multimedia content

• Adobe Reader

• Real Media Player

• Windows Media Player

• Apple Quicktime Player

• Flash Player

• PowerPoint Viewer


Resources – Accessibility issues

• IMS Global Learning Consortium Guidelines for Developing Accessible Learning Applications: http://ncam.wgbh.org/salt/guidelines/sec5.html

• Rich Media Accessibility Project http://ncam.wgbh.org/richmedia/


Resources – General

• New multimedia folder in the Pro Bono Net SWEB Library. http://www.probono.net/statewebsites/index.cfm

• Adding Audio to PowerPoint http://www.lawhelp.org/documents/clusters/AK/105/English/frame.htm


Resources – Existing content

Not ready to develop your own content yet?

Consider free sources:– MSN Videos

http://video.msn.com/v/us/v.htm?f=msn-l– Public domain photo sources

• FirstGov: http://www.firstgov.gov/Topics/Graphics.shtml

• FlickR

http://www.flickr.com/creativecommons


Usability Resources

• http://usability.gov/pdfs/guidelines.html

• http://usability.gov/pdfs/chapter14.pdf - page 5 – multimedia 2006 edition

Documents

Expanding Content with Multimedia Multimedia: Future or Folly? Remember 1981?