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Hardware design On-screen design Next Bibliography Index Guideline 22 Guideline 21 Guideline 20 Guideline 19 Guideline 18 Guideline 17 Guideline 16 Guideline 15 Guideline 14 Guideline 13 Guideline 12 Guideline 11 Guideline 10 Guideline 9 Guideline 8 Guideline 7 Guideline 6 Guideline 5 Guideline 4 Guideline 3 Guideline 2 Guideline 1 Introduction Table of contents Previous On-screen design Hardware design Next page Bibliography Index Guideline 20 Guideline 19 Guideline 18 Guideline 17 Guideline 16 Guideline 15 Guideline 14 Guideline 13 Guideline 12 Guideline 11 Guideline 10 Guideline 9 Guideline 8 Guideline 7 Guideline 6 Guideline 5 Guideline 4 Guideline 3 Guideline 2 Guideline 1 Introduction Table of contents Previous page

"Multimedia content would enhance this encyclopaedia immensely"

Participant in EBONI encyclopaedia evaluation

Readers perceive one of the main advantages of presenting educational material in the electronic medium as being the ability to exploit multimedia elements such as video and audio, and interactive elements in the form of experiments and quizzes, all of which provide an effective alternative learning environment to print publications. Interactive quizzes are popular in mathematical subjects in which accurate feedback can be provided automatically, while multimedia can be usefully exploited in medical, engineering or science subjects in which complex concepts can be communicated in alternative ways.

Inclusion of elements such as these can increase a reader's "sense of engagement" with the book, enhancing likeability and their ability to remember the information being conveyed. However, multimedia and interactive elements can make it more difficult to scan material in search of specific facts; therefore, textual equivalents for all information conveyed via these means should be provided (this is also good practice in terms of accessibility) and multimedia and interactive elements should be used to supplement and enhance, rather than replace, text.


15.1 Include multimedia and interactive elements to supplement text
15.2 Provide textual equivalents


Consult the following recommendations from the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0:
Guideline 1: Provide equivalent alternatives to auditory and visual content
Guideline 6: Ensure that pages featuring new technologies transform gracefully
Guideline 14: Ensure that documents are clear and simple (see, in particular, checkpoint 14.2 of the W3C Guidelines: "Supplement text with graphic or auditory presentations where they will facilitate comprehension of the page")

Figure 14.1

Figure 15.1. Use of interactive elements: Neuroscience for Kids by Eric Chudler

Neuroscience for Kids exploits the capabilities of the electronic medium by offering a range of interactive learning activities.

Click to enlarge
   

Figure 14.2

Figure 15.2. Use of interactive elements: The Joy of Visual Perception by Peter Kaiser

This example shows an interactive diagram of the eye, used in The Joy of Visual Perception. Clicking on different areas of the diagram provides information on different parts of the eye.

Click to enlarge

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Screenshots used with authors' permission