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RE: alternatives to screenshots for Help pages?

for

From: KNOCK Alistair
Date: May 17, 2005 1:32AM

[In my opinion....]

Screenshots can be a help and a hindrance to all users. I'm sure some
people benefit from the 70-80 page colour A4 documents that some of our
departments publish, but considering that the entirety of the text can
usually be summed up in two or three pages of bulleted action lists, the
decimation of trees seems unjust. The copy should always be able to
stand alone, so that the user can use it in conjunction with the system
itself.

Out of interest, how complex is the site, if it's judged to require
screenshots to guide the user? Also consider the resource implications
of having to update screenshots as well as guidance notes.

Cheers,
Alistair

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Don Hinshaw [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ]
> Sent: 16 May 2005 20:57
> To: WebAIM Discussion List
> Subject: [WebAIM] alternatives to screenshots for Help pages?
>
>
> Hi there,
> I am coding Help (how to use this site) pages and have been asked to
> incorporate screenshots to illustrate the points being made
> in the text. I am struggling with the best way to present
> them, or rather augment
> them so that the pages are actually *Helpful*.
> I am thinking it might just be a matter of ensuring that the copy can
> stand on its own if a user cannot see the screenshots.
> Any thoughts on this, or good examples?
> I notice that the WebAIM Dreamweaver pages use screenshots
> with ALT text
> and nothing more.
>
> Thanks,
> Don
>
> --
> Don Hinshaw
> Hinshaw Design Group
> http://www.hinshawdesign.com
>
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