Recently for Writing and the Web we completed a video project. This video project was supposed to include many different elements, storyboarding, and a final product. I absolutely loved it. Basically, we had the ability to choose to make our video over anything. I chose to focus on running because it's something I've gotten into lately. To start, we had to create what's called a storyboard. Storyboarding is basically a visual representation using illustrations to show the flow of your video. It's your blueprint, your map, a plan to follow and know who will be on camera, the order of events, and the content on screen. I found the best part to be that it didn't have to be perfect, my drawings could be stick figures and it still worked as long as I could convey the overall idea. Also, I revise things all the time so it was comforting to know that storyboards undergo change all of the time, that's what they're for! An example of what a storyboard looks like Some of the elements I really enjoyed when working with transitions and actual film were the jump cuts. A jump cut is where you go quickly from one position to the next in the same sequential shot. I did this while the foot was on the starting blocks and I had the feet jump cut to the other persons as it was moving. You can see this from 0:33 - 0:37. I also really enjoyed the B Roll filming, the idea of just capturing a landscape and the detail of it to represent what was to come in the video was really cool. You can see this at the very beginning of my video as the camera pans the fieldhouse. Lastly, I thought the cross dissolve was an awesome transition. I think it works very nicely and transitions smoothly from one thing to the next and doesn't make for such a sharp switch to the next scene, this can be seen right after the B Roll footage. When it came to the techniques within the video I used headspace during the interviews and the rule of thirds in my last clip. I also tried to incorporate looking space and zooming in! All were easy to do and fun at the same time. I think the affordances of video recording helped me to better capture a story than any audio could do. Personally, I am a hands-on and visual learner. So videos are always a great way for me to really engage with something. I feel like this concept of running couldn't have been displayed the same without image. The most difficult part of this project was probably using the tripod. I had never used one before and I had trouble deciding what height to put it at and getting it angled correctly. On top of that, just getting good footage was a little difficult when working with actors. It's very easy for spontaneously laughter to occur out of nerves. Other than that I thought it went very smoothly. The limitations of working with video is mostly revolved around usability in my opinion. I feel like I was able to tell my story well but it would be difficult for, as an example, visually impaired watchers to get that same experience through a transcript. I learned different techniques such as the jump cutting and cross dissolve. While it was a little difficult, I learned how to use a tripod pretty effectively. I think this will really help with my final project because it's been my favorite project we've done so now I know I want to do something with video! It will also help me in my field as I'm also pursuing a minor in communications, maybe video is something I could use in the future for that in things like advertisements. Click Here to see the video! Photo Reference Krause, R. (2018, July 15). What is a Storyboard? Retrieved April 12, 2019, from https://www.nngroup.com/articles/storyboards-visualize-ideas/
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Universal design is simply known as the design of something that makes it accessible to all people, regardless of age, talent, disability, etc. The idea of universal design hasn’t always been around. It wasn’t until The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s encouraged the subsequent Disability Rights Movement that then influenced the legislation of the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s. The laws that it produced withheld discrimination against anyone with disabilities and helped get them the education, accomodations, telecommunications, and transportation they need (The Center for Universal Design, n.d.). The Civil Rights Movement is just one of the major factors that contributed to the development of universal design. The following also were milestones in it’s progress. These occurred from 1960-1990: The Architectural Barriers Act of 1968 helped remove the biggest obstacle for people with disabilities to be employed. The design of buildings and facilities had to be built to be accessible to all people and employees. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 raised awareness of the rights of people living with disability. This includes discrimination in employment, public accommodations, transportation, and telecommunications. Anything that restricted this was prohibited. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 says that telecommunications services, equipment, and customer help equipment be “designed, developed, and fabricated to be accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities, if readily achievable.” This ranges from telephones, television programs, and computers (The Center for Universal Design, n.d.). Universal Design Principles The Center for Universal Designs' article, “The Principles of Universal Design” provides readers with a list of 7 main principles when it comes to universal design. These include all of the following:
The 2 that resonate most with me and my life would have to be Simple and Intuitive Use and Perceptible Information. So what exactly are they? Simple and Intuitive Use: This is exactly what it says, simple. It’s important in universal design to create a design and to use words that meet all knowledge levels and language skills. This reminds me of a set of instructions. Many instruction packets include images and simple steps with just a few action words describing what to do. Normally by flipping the page we can find the same instructions in a different language. Perceptible Information: This principle focuses more on the sensory skills of a user. This can be hearing, touching, or seeing. In my daily life I see this with braille that’s inscribed on many signs I pass. Also, my Macbook is equipped with a screen reader. This is a machine that reads through what’s on the page for users with low vision, processing issues, and those who are blind. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After knowing a little about the history and principles of Universal Design and all that goes into it, it's easier to decide what exactly to test for in a usability test. We know the different types of possible users, along with how to accommodate them, so now it's just putting it to the test. It’s important to know how to test these things in order to make your service available to the most people possible and leave them with a positive experience. This will be important in a potential career path for you or for something of your own that you want to check. As a profession, Universal User Experience (UX) is becoming more and more in demand. As technology continues to advance and grow new inventions and software need to be designed to be used by all people. This is where people with this type of technological experience are needed. When it comes to the testing itself, Steve Krug’s, Don’t make Me Think, hits on some major tips for running your own tests! I recently ran a set of tests for a local attractions website. Among his tips I found the most interesting to be: (Keep in mind, these are focused on a website test) You don’t need to find all of the problems
Choosing participants
Roles of the test
Out of all of the tips the hardest for me to understand was that not all problems necessarily need fixed. It's always been my first instinct to fix everything as soon as possible to make it perfect, and while you should want your design to be perfect, it's almost impossible. Narrowing it down to the largest pieces that need fixed is difficult. However, it's far more beneficial in the long run than pulling out small bits and pieces that only some users notice. Visual of Usability: This image emphasizes the idea that usability means available to everyone. In this image the design is used on many screens. All in all, usability has proved to be more evident in my life than I originally thought. I see it in things such as braille on the bathrooms, ramps at stadiums, even in my own classroom as I have to type out assignments because my professor can't read handwritten work well. It's amazing too that universal design is only going to continue to grow. It’s important as a developing community that we work to provide accessibility to everyone! References Krug, Steve. (2014). Don't Make Me Think. New Riders. Smith, A. (2017, December 3). Usability First [Usability]. Retrieved March 1, 2019, from https://uxplanet.org/usability-first-why-usability-design-matters-to-ui-ux-designers-9dfb5580116a The Center for Universal Design. (n.d.). A Brief History of Universal Design. Retrieved from https://projects.ncsu.edu/ncsu/design/cud/pubs_p/docs/udffile/chap_1.pdf The Center for Universal Design. (n.d.). The Principles of Universal Design. Retrieved from https://projects.ncsu.edu/ncsu/design/cud/pubs_p/docs/udffile/chap_1.pdf Up until about two and a half weeks ago I had no idea what the term, “multimodality” meant. However, once it’s broken down into “Multiple Modes” it’s a little clearer to see. Multimodality is communication through visuals, linguistics, text, and more (Carroll, 2017). These different techniques help to display a message. With my specific field of study being English and writing, it is quite possible I will find myself using multimodality frequently. If my career path was to go down the marketing alley or anything web design related it’s important that I can create and portray messages and text in an engaging and entertaining way. When it comes to my personal life I am always using multimodality. Some of my favorite things to include in my personal use are:
There are a lot of positives to these multimodal techniques including their ability to engage many different audiences and make for an interactive read. However, they can sometimes get out of hand. If you for instance, overuse colors, clutter the visual with text, or misuse hyperlinks to unavailable sources. Hyperlinks can take readers to videos/photos or other credible sources which can enhance the experience of the reader when incorporated correctly. When these are not used properly they can leave a negative effect/experience with the reader. We don’t want that. I never even considered the set up of different websites, but now that I know about it I can definitely see how some have turned me away due to clutter, unusable links, or videos that simply didn't work. A large portion of multimodality deals with photos or other assets. Those photos and attributes need to be both truthful and credible for the readers. It's our job as the writer to do that. This includes citing all sources, when it comes to citations things can get a little sticky if we don't do it correctly. Have you ever heard of Copyright law? Copyright law is a very real thing, don’t let anyone fool you. “Copyright protects the expression of ideas, not the ideas themselves or the labor required to create the expressions” (Carroll, 2017, p. 281). The timeline below shows how copyright has changed over time and how it works today: Copyright has changed a lot over time with its rules and exceptions:
There are two terms that deal with stealing others' work. The first is copyright infringement. This is when we use someone else's work without getting permission. The second term is plagiarism: plagiarism is when the writer claims attribution for a work they didn't do or when they use a work without giving it it's proper attribution. Attribution is simply just stating where you got the information from. In order to use these expressions of specific ideas we, as writers, have to ask for permission from the one who created it. When I learned of all of the intricacies of copyright I started to question my prior use. I feel a lot of people aren’t aware of just how serious it can be! In my own personal work I plan to include citations. When considering truth, credibility, and fact-checking in writing it’s important that the information you use in your work is accurate. One way of doing this is by fact-checking. Google Dictionary Definition It’s normally a good idea to use two sources when fact-checking. This is to make sure that the results line up, even further verifying their credibility. One thing I learned while doing an assignment on fact-checking is that it’s a good sign when the source has its title in the URL and it’s a bad sign when the URL ends with .com. This is not always true though. Either way, I plan to fact-check all of my future sources and information I use in hopes to get the most accurate message across to my readers. As for reading the internet? I will consider my sources wisely and learn from other sources how to best represent my work. References Carroll, B. (2017). Writing & Editing for Digital Media (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge. U.S. Copyright Office. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.copyright.gov/timeline/ |
AuthorEnglish & Writing Major |