Chap 12 - Digital Development Considerations

• accessibility


  ability to personalise digital apps to support use by any user
• compression


  the reduction of file size through the removal of unnecessary data
• cross platform applications


  an application designed to operate successfully on more than one platform
• graphical user interface (GUI)

  a user interface which provides windows, menus, icons and pointers so that the user can operate it
• human computer interfaces


  the use of digital technology to support the communication between the end users and computers
• icon


  small image or picture on screen representing shortcut to a tool or application
• motion tracking interfaces


  interfaces that convert movement into digital signals
• natural language interface


  A means of interacting with digital technology using everyday language
• optimisation


  When files are compressed to facilitate storage or electronic transmission
• optimised


  Code which uses the minimum of resources during operation and which is efficient in terms of speed of operation
• pdf


  portable document format. A file format which supports the presentation of text, graphics and hyperlinks on a range of platforms
• pointer


  on screen icon which moves in response to the position of an input device such as a mouse
• platform


  the hardware or software (or both) which supports the operation of an application
• plugin


  Software which adds additional features to an application once installed.
• W3C


  World Wide Web Consortium, a standards organisation whose focus is on ensuring accessibility of digital applications.
• WIMP


  Windows, Icons, Menus, Pointers
• window


  an area on screen showing the actions being carried out by an application
• why are human interfaces needed

  to support the issuing of commands and the presentation of output to the end user in forms that both the end user and digital application can understand
• GUI's are said to provide the user with what

  a wimp environment
• W

  I

  M

  P

  WINDOWS- shows the actions being performed by the an application at that moment in time

  ICONS- represents a shortcut to a task or an application

  MENUS- provides a way of grouping similar or related tasks together, thus allowing the end user to locate relative tasks in a intuitive way

  POINTERS- by placing the pointer over an icon or any onscreen option the user can activate that option using further keystrokes or clicks
• advantages of GUI's (3)

  intuitive and user friendly, the icons use familiar images so the tasks they represent can e recognised by the user

  
  

  user does not need to understand how the computer operates in order to complete a task

  
  

  normally supported by shortcuts in the form of keystrokes to help increase speed of operation for more experienced users
• disadvantages of GUI's (3)

  increased processing power, storage space and RAM are often required to support the GUI

  
  

  more powerful graphics card needed to present a GUI than some other interface types

  
  

  can be restrictive and slow for experienced users to use
• analogue voice commands must be converted into what before being understood by the computer

  digital
• what does natural language interfaces mean for the user

  they can speak or type instructions into the computer using regular sentence structures
• what applications are natural language interfaces used in (2)

  computer games- where the end user can communicate in conversational mode with other characters

  
  

  search engines- the user can enter in full sentences and the search engine extracts key terms from the users input and returns a reasonably precise index of results
• advantages of natural language interface (3)

  suitable for the users with limited technical experience

  
  

  suitable for users with limited movement to interact with the digital devices

  
  

  supports hands free interaction with digital technology
• disadvantages of natural language interface (3)

  the system will only respond to the voices its trained to recognise

  
  

  the interface only recognises limited commands

  
  

  there would need to be a significant amount of time needed to train the interface to recognise a voice
• when are motion tracking interfaces implemented

  using a device which converts movement in a 3D space into digital signals for use as input to a computer game
• what can they use to track movement

  specific imaging devices or senses
• what are these specific imaging methods usually called(imaging devices/sensors)

  optical methods
• how else can movement be tracked

  through integrated camera based motion tracking on specialised infrared camera
• 3 advantages of motion tracking interfaces

  can help make interactions with digital applications more realistic for users

  
  

  allows inexperienced users to interact with applications in a natural

  way

  
  

  supports interaction with users who have limited fine motor control
• 2 disadvantages of motion tracking interfaces

  because technology is fairly new its limited

  
  

  high-end motion tracking technology is still expensive
• touchscreen


  has a sensitive surface/membrane

  when touched the position is calculated as an (x,y) coordinate
• 2 advantages of a touch screen

  reduces the need for additional hardware and increases the portability of the device

  
  

  easily wiped clean
• 2 disadvantages of touch screen

  if touchscreen is damaged interaction with the technology is affected

  
  

  difficult to operate if visually impaired
• what can the specialised settings that most hardware devices come with do

  enhance the accessibility of the product

  
  

  e.g. narrators or screen magnifiers
• what are the recommendations of the W3C for the development of internet based applications

  the inclusion of alt text for graphics

  no reliance on mouse for input interaction

  provision of transcripts for podcasts
• what is the factors that should be taken into consideration on cross-platform digital applications


  what looks good on one platform may not look good on another so the interfaces should be tailored to to suit each platform

  platform specific application should be designed

  regular updates of each app should be provided

  applications should be fully tested on all target platforms
• 2 ways to improve cross platform compatibility

  plugin software and pdf