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

Expanding Content with Multimedia 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.

Expanding Content with Multimedia 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

Expanding Content with Multimedia 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

Expanding Content with Multimedia 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

Expanding Content with Multimedia 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

Expanding Content with Multimedia 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?

Expanding Content with Multimedia 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?

Expanding Content with Multimedia Why use multimedia? Making sense of complex issues Reaching new audiences Serving current audience better –Low literacy –LEP –People with disabilities

Expanding Content with Multimedia 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)

Expanding Content with Multimedia Accessibility Myth: All multimedia content on a website is “inaccessible” Fact: Multimedia content can make the site more accessible to many users.

Expanding Content with Multimedia 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.

Expanding Content with Multimedia 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.

Expanding Content with Multimedia 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?

Expanding Content with Multimedia Before you begin

Expanding Content with Multimedia 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

Expanding Content with Multimedia

Looking at different types of media: Video Animation Interactive Animation Webcasting

Expanding Content with Multimedia 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.

Expanding Content with Multimedia 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.

Expanding Content with Multimedia Guidelines for creating online video content: Recognize that Web users are easily distracted, and keep distracting elements out of the frame of your shots. - Jacob Neilson

Expanding Content with Multimedia Guidelines for creating online video content: 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

Expanding Content with Multimedia Legal Aid online videos Illinois going to court video

Expanding Content with Multimedia 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.

Expanding Content with Multimedia 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.)

Expanding Content with Multimedia Legal Aid Webcasting Illinois visitation plan in Spanish

Expanding Content with Multimedia Animation Flash – most common for use on websites Why? –Explain complex issues –Dynamic –Attracts attention

Expanding Content with Multimedia Legal Aid Animation

Expanding Content with Multimedia 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….)

Expanding Content with Multimedia Interactive Animation Allows a person to respond and interact.

Expanding Content with Multimedia 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

Expanding Content with Multimedia A2J in use: some examples Idaho Legal Aid: Answer to an Eviction Iowa Remote Intake Other uses / examples?

Expanding Content with Multimedia 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

Expanding Content with Multimedia Want to learn more? Visit the Center for Access to Justice and Technology: January 2006 LSTechie Article on A2J

Expanding Content with Multimedia Pulling it all together A look at Illinois Legal Aid Online –Animation –Interactive Animation –Webcasting –Video

Expanding Content with Multimedia Keeping it Simple and Up-to- date Alaska LawHelp

Expanding Content with Multimedia Example: Alaska LawHelp Presentation with an American Sign Language translation embedded (the video files are embedded into the PowerPoint slides as.avi files). While we could have used Flash for this, we opted for inexpensive and easily-obtainable software (PowerPoint and Windows Movie Maker).

Expanding Content with Multimedia 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

Expanding Content with Multimedia Common plug-ins to view multimedia content Adobe Reader Real Media Player Windows Media Player Apple Quicktime Player Flash Player PowerPoint Viewer

Expanding Content with Multimedia Resources – Accessibility issues IMS Global Learning Consortium Guidelines for Developing Accessible Learning Applications: tml tml Rich Media Accessibility Project

Expanding Content with Multimedia Resources – General New multimedia folder in the Pro Bono Net SWEB Library. Adding Audio to PowerPoint nglish/frame.htm nglish/frame.htm

Expanding Content with Multimedia Resources – Existing content Not ready to develop your own content yet? Consider free sources: – MSN Videos – Public domain photo sources FirstGov: FlickR

Expanding Content with Multimedia Usability Resources page 5 – multimedia 2006 editionhttp://usability.gov/pdfs/chapter14.pdf