J110 — Critique a Piece of Multimedia

Title of media package: Gay rights in the US, state by state

Link: https://www.theguardian.com/world/interactive/2012/may/08/gay-rights-united-states

A screenshot of the media package reviewed by Vicky Chong for this assignment. (Vicky Chong / J110)

• Briefly describe what the piece is about.
  This piece is an interactive infographic article by The Guardian detailing the types of rights gay/queer people have legal access to in America, such as marriage, hospital visitation, adoption, housing, employment and school bullying according to each state. This article was last updated in 2015, and is interactive in how hovering your mouse over specific graphics will enable a pop-up with more information on the section.
• Why did you like it?
  I liked it because it was a vibrant and visually attractive piece of visual media. Its use of colors was in accordance to the colors of the Queer flag, which felt respectful of the subject matter. Furthermore, I think the article used space very efficiently — instead of writing a long list of information, it was segmented and relevant information only appears when the reader hovers over the infographic. I like that this gives readers the control of what information they read and at what pace, which is considerate of any triggers readers may have. It also makes for a less overwhelming and more digestible consumption of information. The consistent use of shapes (in this case, the pie charts) makes this article less confusing and easy to follow.
• How does it represent a good use of multimedia?
  It represents a good use of media by representing pertinent information through a balance of visual aid and written words. Because there was so much information that could have been messy if it was just written as a story, these infographics help readers conceptualize all information. This means that the blend between written media and infographic worked well together to convey information clearly.
• What did you dislike about it? What were its drawbacks?
  I disliked that the font was a little small which made it harder to read. Also, I was a little taken aback by how much information was hidden in the infographics unless the mouse hovers over it, this may cause some pertinent information to get lost because readers do not know which graphic to hover over to read it. Also, because it depended so heavily on graphics and programming for this article to be legible, the layout/interface might be compromised on different devices, such as iPhones or iPads, rendering this article inaccessible to those without computers.
• Was it long? Did you get through the whole thing?
  It wasn’t long in the written sense but it was packed with information so it took me a while to read every single paragraph that each shape represented.
• How do you think it could have been improved?
  I think the font could have been bigger and perhaps more written information regarding the operations of the interactive graphics would have made this article more understandable, instead of having to figure out the interactive-ness and behavior of the graphics as I go.