Choosy Designers Choose GIF

Although we may know them best from looping cat clips and viral memes of would-be stunt people face-planting on concrete, animated GIFs (short for Graphics Interchange Format) can be attention-grabbing and informative for demonstrating brief processes or simple actions. They can get your point across visually in a dynamic way that allows learners to follow along from start to finish.

Creating and manipulating animated GIFs can be a time-consuming task that could involve using expensive software. So I was pleased to discover EZGIF.com, a free resource that puts many GIF making tools right at your fingertips without needing to learn how to use an image editing program.

Some of the helpful GIF-related tasks EZGIF.com can perform include:

• Creating animations from scratch
• Resizing (upload your own image or use one already online)
• Cropping
• Optimizing (color reduction, remove frames)
• Adding effects (rotate, reverse, change speed, add text)
• Extracting specific animation frames
• Converting videos files to GIF (formats include MP4, AVI, WEBM, and FLV files up to 50MB)

After you make all the necessary changes to your GIF, you are presented with a link to download your newly edited image in a jiffy instantly.

Image from Wikimedia Commons.

The LMS, IE, and Quirks Mode

For the more advanced user of WebCT Vista, Blackboard Learn 9, Angel, etc., who uses web technologies to design rich, visually striking, interactive learning content, there is a perpetual thorn in the side: quirks mode. What is quirks mode? In short, any time the doctype code on an html page header is not done properly (and the first thing the browser sees), most web browsers go into quirks mode to try to compensate for a web page that seems broken. Usually the web browser renders the page as an older version of that browser.

The problem? Even if your html pages are spot-on perfect and standards compliant, WebCT, Blackboard, etc., add a bunch of html and JavaScript to the top of your pages when they serve them up. This makes the browser think the pages are broken, and it goes into quirks mode to try to compensate.

If you use html to create course content to upload into your online course, you’ve probably seen some of the problems caused by this, even if you didn’t know the cause. Most of the problems are caused in Internet Explorer, which renders as IE 5.5 or 6. So any html page you create to upload into an LMS system must be designed to work in IE5.5 or 6, or it will break for your students, even if they are on IE 8 or 10.

For more information on what breaks in different browsers I quirks mode, have a look at quirksmode.org’s excellent guide. It could lead you to the cause of the persistent, mysterious, illogical html problem you’ve been having in your online course:

http://www.quirksmode.org/css/quirksmode.html

Converting File Formats with Zamzar

Have you ever wanted to convert files without the need to download software? This is the question posed by the makers of Zamzar, a free online file format conversion tool that, in most cases, eliminates the need for expensive software solutions. The tool allows for converting your files to a large variety of formats without intrusive watermarks, including video file types that are usually associated with paid software such as:

• Windows Media Video (wmv)
• Flash Video (flv)
• MPEG-4 Part 14 (mp4)
• Quicktime (mov)

It will also convert:

• Images (e.g., gif, jpeg, tiff, eps)
• Documents (e.g., Microsoft Office files, pdf, csv)
• Music (e.g., mp3, wav, flac)
• eBooks (e.g., epub, mobi)
• Compressed formats (e.g., zip, rar)
• Video presets (e.g., Apple TV, DVD, iPod, iPad, iPhone, PS3, Xbox 360, YouTube)

Zamzar uses a simple, four-step process to convert your files:

1. Select the file from your computer.
2. Choose the conversion format.
3. Enter your email address. Zamzar will send you a link to download your file after conversion has finished.
4. Click the Convert button.

So, what's the catch? Well, files to be converted must be less than 100MB. This will rule out large video files. Also, it can take some time before the actual link to download your file is sent to your email inbox. While these two caveats may be a deal breaker for some, others will find Zamzar to be a lifesaver in some challenging media usage situations. Try it out at: http://www.zamzar.com.

What is EPUB?

Shopping for an ebook reader? Watching the changing textbook market? One term you might see in the media is “EPUB". This unfamiliar term could be essential for making informed consumer choices.  eBooks have been following a path similar to the history of digital music. Since the 1970s, Project Gutenberg has been digitizing classic texts into plain text(or txt), which can be read on literally any device. Some companies have created their own formats over the years, which usually work with one device or app. Some people bought many ebooks to read on their Palm Pilot in the 1990s, and are now unable to read them on their new ebook readers or tablets.

In 2007, a new format was introduced to make a standard type of file that would be readable by many devices and apps. This format is EPUB(for electronic publication).  EPUB is designed to work with many devices, and the standard is open for any programmer to refer to. The pages re-scale to fit the size of any screen. EPUB can be used with or without licensing lock-down, so can be used for both paid and free documents. Like your music files, they contain information on the author, date, cover art, etc. This is the most compatible format to date, and should be an important consideration.

Considerations for Educators

If you buy an ebook in Kindle or other proprietary format now, will you still be able to read your book in 5-10 years when some other device is popular?  If your school, class, or program adopts an ebook format that is only available on one device, will all students be able to afford that device? Perhaps a format that can be used on many different devices is more appropriate.

Do you, your program, department, or college, ever develop your own classroom materials? Industry standard authoring apps, such as Adobe InDesign, already support EPUB. There are also Open Source authoring options available for free. If you would like to create your own student handbook, workbook, field guide, or other materials in a format students can read on most ebook readers and apps, these software applications will help you get started:

• eLML
• Sigil

Accessibility Basics (Part Two)

In the first article in our Accessibility Basics series, we defined four essential steps in planning for online course accessibility:

1. Choosing file formats
   
2. Chunking content
   
3. Providing options
   
4. Having backup plans

Commonly Used Formats

In this article, the focus is on step one, choosing file formats.  The file formats that faculty include in an online class vary widely based on a number of factors:

1. Faculty technical skills – only a minority of faculty create html pages.
2. Faculty field of expertise/subject area – some fields need special file types for special purposes.
3. Faculty workload – a busy person will do what they are most familiar with

File Format Pros and Cons

Html pages are the most flexible, and can be made the most accessible.  This is the format the ITRC uses when building a course, because it can include other media and provide for accessibility. However, if you are a faculty member working on your own, this may be intimidating. The HTML Creator tool inside WVU eCampus, however, can allow easy, simple creation. While some subject areas use or require files in a specialized format, these are generally best used as specific demonstration pieces or elements of a homework assignment.