Chapter 12

Created by

Sadik Pechamo

Cards (53)

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 methods usually called
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
examples of these things
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