Multimedia Critique 1

The Washington Post has published an in-depth look at the use of grant money to address the city's HIV/AIDS problem in a series called Wasting Away. This series includes a multimedia piece with three chapters: Ghost Employees and Inadequate Care; A Long Wait for Housing; and Sick, but Fighting for Others.

The piece, which includes stills, audio and video, is displayed on a wide view screen with the three chapters listed with thumbnails to the left of the viewer. Linking from The Washington Post's home page, the piece plays automatically with a short, 15-second ad. (Upon repeat play, there is no ad.) The 10-minute piece moves from chapter to chapter without interruption. While the first chapter plays, the chapter's thumbnail is highlighted. When the second chapter plays, the chapter's thumbnail is highlighter. However, there's a hiccup when the third chapter plays. Its thumbnail is not highlighted.

Upon repeat play, highlight function seems stuck on the second chapter.

The piece itself is comprehensive. Its content is thought provoking. It's apparent an entire staff worked for a length of time to gather the appropriate still photos, audio and video. The editing is well done and each chapter moves into the next seamlessly. Again, this piece is part of a larger project that includes maps and text, links to which are displayed above the viewer.

This project was well planned and well executed. It tackles the subject matter that I want to tackle as a journalist.

Web site critique 2: Online portfolio

Penny de Los Santos is a freelance photojournalist based in Austin, Texas. Her international work revolves around food and culture.

On her professional site, pennydelossantos.com, photo content is king. The main images are displayed large and loud, while links to other pages (Portfolios, Bio, Contact and Blog) are quiet in small, gray font. This display immediately sets the tone for the site – photos first, words second. It’s easy for the viewer to concentrate on the images and not be distracted by smaller navigational details. However, when needed, these buttons are easy to find. They’re also displayed in intuitive, logical places along the top of each page.

If you choose the Portfolio tab, you’ll have a choice of Travel/Food, Food, Portraits, Single Images and Tejanos Project. Once a selection is made, you have a choice as to how to view the dozens of images. The main image is large, while there are active thumbnails on the right side of the main. You can choose to view the content as a slideshow (which has the added feature of a small circle that completes itself, counting the time for each image as it’s shown). Or you can choose to navigate using previous or next arrows in the bottom right corner. You can also move the mouse through the thumbnails to make a selection.

So far, no dead-ends. Each page has an option for returning to the home page or other content. The one criticism I would offer is the slight delay in loading the page.

Otherwise, the site is clean, vibrant and easy to navigate. It makes me hungry -- for food and travel.