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Subject:RE: Never lead with a graphic From:"Chinell, David F (GE EntSol, Security)" <David -dot- Chinell -at- GE -dot- com> To:"Rebecca Hopkins" <rebecca_hopkins -at- comcast -dot- net>, "Tech Whirlers" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Tue, 8 Jul 2008 16:14:42 -0400
Rebecca:
Here's what I've come to. The text is a narrator's voice going off in
your head. The voice explains each thing you encounter as you read the
material. If the narrator doesn't introduce the figure, it's like your
boss walking past your desk, dropping a memo on it, and walking off
without saying a word. Sure, you can read the memo and figure out what
it is, but it's easier if the boss says something like "Here's that list
of tasks you sent me. I've prioritized them for you."
I used to think of text like that as padding, but not any more. I see
such text as a valuable part of the narrator's voice. I'm not thinking
of a novel or a long, sustained read. This seems true even if you come
from and index to the topic in question.
No heading or caption can properly introduce the figure by itself.
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