State of Online Graphics  

Judging from the work of fellow Help writers, the value of graphics in online Help is subject to debate. Of the more than sixty Help systems reviewed for this session (including the suites from Corel, Lotus, and Microsoft), fewer than half featured significant use of graphics. Even the Help systems of some graphics applications consisted mainly of text, broken only occasionally by utilitarian screenshots of tools and buttons. Yet, even though we have had only a few years of experience in designing graphics for online Help, many of the Help systems revealed a wealth of good ideas worth adapting for use in your own systems.

Elley, Frank. STC Proceedings (1998). Design>Web Design>Graphic Design>Online