Webinar Wire

Features: Annotation

Posted by Ken Molay December 20 2007 3:23 PM EDT

Today's feature discussion focuses on how vendors approach the concept of adding markups to presented materials. The two most common implementations allow users to doodle on a blank white background (a "whiteboard") or to draw on top of a PowerPoint slide that is being shown to the audience. Less common are implementations that allow annotations on shared documents such as Word or Excel files, and only a few vendors (such as BizConference and iLinc) let you place annotations on a live screen share, which is a marvelous bit of extra functionality.

The next area of distinction between products is control over who gets to make annotations. In a collaborative "brainstorming" meeting it can be useful to let all participants have the opportunity to add markups, but in a large group event this can lead to chaos. Some vendors only allow the active presenter to add annotations. Others allow access based on role, so all presenters/organizers/hosts might be able to draw while the audience is blocked. I like this ability because one person can concentrate on speaking while another adds helpful highlighting marks to emphasize key points. I often support my clients in this way when I moderate their events. It adds some visual dynamics to the presentation, which can help refocus audience attention.

Now we come to the question of what types of annotation elements can be added to the screen. The list of possibilities is quite long, and different vendors choose the ones that they want to support. Nobody has all of these:

• Right-facing block arrow
• Left-facing block arrow
• Hollow rectangle
• Solid filled rectangle
• Highlighter filled (semi-transparent) rectangle
• Hollow circle/oval
• Solid filled circle/oval
• Highlighter filled (semi-transparent) circle/oval
• Straight line
• Freeform line
• Straight one-head line with arrow
• Straight two-head line with arrows
• Laser pointer
• Highlighter (semi-transparent swath)
• Text box
• Checkmark
• Star
• Big X
• Pointing finger

... And there are others as well. Many products default to the "laser pointer" (my name for a little dot that moves wherever you move your cursor... It looks like a laser pointer dot on a projection screen). I always discourage presenters from using this feature. It usually doesn't track smoothly on the audience's display because of timing in the polling and redisplay functionality, so while the presenter thinks she is making a nice easy sweep from one area to the next, the audience sees a little dot appearing and disappearing in random locations on their display. Even with products that track and display the dot smoothly, many presenters try to "talk with the pointer," wiggling it back and forth under a piece of text, which can make an audience sea sick! You are much better off relying on elements that stay where you put them.

There can be subtle differences between vendor implementations even for the same type of element. For instance, some companies automatically display the presenter's name within a block arrow pointer. I find this distracting in single-presenter webinars, and it makes it awkward for moderator-drawn annotations as I mentioned earlier. Some companies let you hold down the shift key while drawing a line to force it to a perfect horizontal or vertical (great for underlining text without showing "jaggies" in your underline). There are such a wide range of variations possible in the elements that I am going to move on for fear of getting bogged down in this section.

Color control is the next thing to look for. Some vendors automatically assign a color to your elements, possibly using a different color for each presenter. This was the implementation in Live Meeting 2005, but they have upgraded it for the new Live Meeting 2007. Ideally you should be able to select your color for each annotation element, changing colors at will. This is especially true for "highlighter" elements that cover the underlying graphics while still letting you see through to what is underneath. It is important to pick a highlighting shade that lets the content stay clearly visible. Some vendors allow you to pick different colors for the outline and the fill (for instance, a solid red box with a black border). While offering ultimate flexibility, this may introduce more steps than the average presenter wants to deal with. Another option that may or may not be supported by your vendor is the ability to change line widths (for borders, arrows, highlighters, etc).

Text box annotations offer a way for vendors to distinguish themselves as well. Some vendors only let you type one line in a text box. As soon as you hit the return key, it places the element on the screen. You have to place a second box for your second line and try to match them up to make the margins align. Some vendors use a fixed font for all text annotations, while others let you pick font type, size, color, and attributes such as italic or bold.

Once you place an annotation on the screen, what can you do with it? This is another area of wide diversity between vendors. You may be able to drag and drop an element to a new location with some products, while others stay only where you originally placed them. Some products let you delete an individual element, while others force you to clear the entire screen at once. Some vendors let you erase all your markups while leaving those placed by other presenters. And a few vendors let you select a set of elements to move or delete as a group.

"Annotation volatility" (my phrase) is something you might want to think about. Vendors such as WebEx and Adobe who upload slides to a meeting room usually retain any markings you have made so that the next time you enter the meeting room, they are still there on the slides. This can be useful for going back and checking your content, but it can also cause extra work if you want to clean things up after a rehearsal or presentation session to start over fresh with another session.  ConferTel's WebDialogs clears all anotations every time you navigate away from a slide and back to it again.

Then there are a few concerns that only raise their heads because of other implementation features. For instance, in Adobe Connect, the use of layouts lets you break presentations into smaller groups (perhaps for different presenters or for conducting polls). If you are using annotations such as rectangles, you can pick your choice for border color, fill type, and fill color. But navigating away from one layout to another loses your selections and you have to start over from scratch. This adds extra work to your presentation process and forces you to concentrate on something other than your delivery.

Annotations can be a great way to keep your audience with you during a presentation. When selecting a technology vendor, spend some time working with their annotation controls and determining whether they seem flexible enough and convenient enough for you to work with comfortably.