Page 22 - DCAP303_MULTIMEDIA_SYSTEMS

Multimedia Systems

notes The saying “A picture is worth a thousand words” (and perhaps more when audio, video and
animation are added) is as true in multimedia as on the printed page.
Although there are certain titles where text predominates, such as reference works like
encyclopaedias, combining other elements with text can often reduce the amount of text needed
to convey a concept.
examples of Multimedia titles that includes a Great Deal of reference Material

From a design standpoint, text should fill less than half the screen.
Text can be used in many ways in multimedia:
• in a website
• in films such as titles and credits

• as subtitles in a film or documentary that provide a translation
• it may be used in advertisements
• it is used in text messaging.

2.2.1 Use of text in Webs
Text has more benefits, other than simply driving visitors’ attention to itself, other than spending
time and energy on graphical elements that do not contribute to understanding of the page.
to improve website speed
When a website is built primarily of text (such as this one), it loads much faster, than the one,
which uses:
• excessive images, graphics

• JavaScript (for menus, including various stat tracking scripts, such as Google Analytics)
• table-based layouts (which are twice larger in file size, than the ones built in CSS)
• internal code (not placed in external CSS, JS, etc. files and linked to)

• sound and video on the page (especially without transcripts, which hurts accessibility if
you do use audio/video, do not auto-launch it and have a button to turn it on/off)

Though website loading speed is not the only factor that influences conversions, it is one of the
most important ones, considering that visitors start to leave, when the page loads slower than
in 8 seconds.
Another, more important factor, is how well visitors can find what they want on the website.
Though relevant, clear images can draw visitors’ eyes to it, the text, containing the information the
people were hunting for, draws much more attention. That is why text should be the cornerstone
of the web page design, not graphics (which it seems to be right now). Especially, when text can
boost search engine traffic and conversions greatly.

16 LoveLy professionaL University