Chapter 3

Text
Table of contents
● Importance of Text
● Attributes of Text
● Usage of Text in Multimedia
● Hypertext and Hypermedia
● Font Editing and Design Tools

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.: Importance of Text
• Words and symbols in any form, spoken or written, are the most
common means of communication.
• Text is a vital element of multimedia menus, navigation
systems, and content.
• The power of meaning – Multimedia developers must use words
carefully and accurately

Character a b c f t g…
Numeric 0123…
Special character @ # $ & ! ….
Symbol 
ASCII character °± ≥ ≤
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.: Attributes of Text
• Factors affecting legibility of text:
• Size
• Background and foreground colors
• Style
• Leading
•Typeface – is a family of graphic characters, often with many
type sizes and styles.
• E.g. Verdana, Impact, Times New Roman
•Font – is a collection of characters of a single size and style
belonging to a particular typeface family.
• E.g. Verdana 20-point Bold Italic, Courier 18-point underlined
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• The study of fonts and typefaces includes the following:
• Font styles
• Font sizes
• Cases
• Serif versus sans serif
• Cases
• Font styles include: A CAPITALIZED letter is referred to as
UPPERCASE, while a small letter is referred to as
• Boldface lowercase.
• Italic
Placing an uppercase letter in the middle of a
Outlining
• Underlining word is referred to as an intercap (e.g.
WorldWideWeb, GlaxoSmithKline).
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• Font sizes
• Font size is measured in points.
• Character metrics are the general measurements applied to individual
characters.
• Kerning is the spacing between character pairs.
• Leading is the space between lines.

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•Serif versus sans serif
– A serif is the little decoration at the end of a
letter stroke.
– Serif fonts are used for body text (e.g. Times New Roman, Century,
Bookman, Palatino).
– Sans serif fonts do not have a serif at the end
of a letter stroke (e.g. Arial, Tahoma, Verdana).
– These fonts are used for headlines and bold statements.

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.: Usage of Text in Multimedia
•The text elements used in multimedia are:
– Menus for navigation
– Interactive buttons
– Fields for reading
– HTML documents
– Symbols and icons

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.: Hypertext and Hypermedia
• Hypertext systems – is defined as the organized cross-linking of
words, images, and other Web elements.
• A system in which words are keyed or indexed to other words is
referred to as a hypertext system.
• A hypertext system enables the user to navigate through text in a
non-linear way
• Information management and hypertext programs present
electronic text, images, and other elements in a database fashion
• Hypertext databases make use of proprietary indexing systems.
• Server-based hypertext and database engines are widely
available
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• Hypertext systems are used for:
• Electronic publishing and reference works
• Technical documentation
• Educational courseware
• Interactive kiosks
• Electronic catalogs

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.: Hypertext and Hypermedia (cont.)
• Hypermedia – Interactive multimedia becomes hypermedia when a
structure of linked elements is provided to the user for navigation
and interaction
• Hypermedia structures
• Links – are connections between conceptual elements
• Nodes – are accessible topics, documents, messages, and content
elements
• Anchors – defined as the reference from one document to another
document, image, sound, or file on the Web.

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• Navigating hypermedia structures
• The simplest way to navigate hypermedia structures is via
buttons.
• Location markers must be provided to make navigation user-
friendly.
• Two functions common to most hypermedia text management
systems are building (authoring) and reading.
• The functions of a builder are:
• Creating links
• Identifying nodes
• Generating an index of words

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