PICTURES COMBINED WITH WORDS GET YOUR MESSAGE ACROSS. Pictures were the first means of written communication. From cave drawings to the World Wide Web, pictures have been used to get attention and carry a message. By adding words, it allows that message to be complete.

Magazine and newspaper editors, book designers, and educators have long known that pictures, meaning photographs, illustrations, or animations have the power to get attention and provide information on a given subject. The pictures will draw the eye to an area of the page much faster than text alone.

The choice of an intriguing or attractive picture will draw attention to your page, whether printed on paper or published as a web page on the World Wide Web. The strength it can bring to your work is measurable. In this example there is no caption and no way to really know what the photograph represents. 

Some pictures are more complex and contain information that is not readily apparent. Many enlightened editors and designers learned long ago that those pictures could be used to provide even more information when combined with simple text captions that explained things not readily apparent in the picture. In many publications, pictures with a caption stand alone to convey the whole of the information.

Text should never repeat the information that is readily apparent in the picture. Rather it should explain and even elaborate on the information in the picture. The caption should be an integral part of the information package. 

Try to anticipate any questions that viewer might have when looking at the picture and include that in the caption. In addition, other information that will make the picture more useful for your purposes and more helpful to the viewers can be included. Here the caption explains that the meaning of this photograph is more complex than it would appear.

A memorial metal tree sculpture honoring the Budapest

Jews who were victims of the Nazis during the holocaust.

Each leaf bears the name of one who died. Located at the

Great Synagogue in Budapest.A memorial metal tree sculpture

honoring the Budapest Jews who were victims of the Nazis

during the holocaust. Each leaf bears the name of one

 who died. Located at the Great Synagogue in Budapest.

By using that same picture with a caption and adding a sound file to it you can provide information for those who have a sight disability or learn easier with sound rather than text alone. 

The sound caption may simply repeat the text caption information or it may simply provide some additional information not contained in the text caption. However it is vital that the creator of the work remember who the audience is. If it is aimed at providing information for those with a sight disability, then the basic information must be in the sound caption. 

A memorial metal tree sculpture honoring the Budapest Jews who

were victims of the Nazis during the holocaust. Each leaf bears the

 name of one who died. Located at the Great Synagogue in Budapest.

For more information about caption writing, there is an excellent tip sheet on the University of Missouri School of Journalism website. Just click on this link

http://www.missouri.edu/~jschool/missourian/captions.htm

There is no shortage of possible applications in the use of words and pictures together. The combination would benefit every printed piece of material that the educator would produce. Incorporating sound would lend itself to either CD ROM production, web pages or perhaps even in PowerPoint presentations. Incorporating sound in a PowerPoint presentation would make it more interesting and perhaps provide information that couldn't be included in any other way. Pictures and words will make every one of your publications better.

PowerPoint Slide with text and sound

Bob Crosby, Graduate Student, Educational Technology