U.S. Department of Energy
Environmental Management Science Program Workshop
Guidelines for Preparation of Online Poster Presentations
The poster sessions are an essential part of the workshop, providing the opportunity for display of each project in an environment conducive to substantive discussion between the investigators and interested workshop participants. It is also essential to capture the essence of these presentations in a form which will facilitate their posting on a workshop web site, thus making them available for an extended time period and to a much broader Internet audience extending far beyond workshop attendees. Since poster sessions and web sites are significantly different communication mechanisms, it is important to consider the aspects which are different and those which are similar when designing the poster presentation for each project. In the following paragraphs some of the differences and similarities are summarized. This is followed by suggestions for designing effective poster presentations with an emphasis on approaches which can simplify the transformation of the information into an effective web presentation with minimal additional effort. Note that these suggestions are not intended to inhibit creativity in designing an effective poster presentation.
Guidelines for Preparation of Posters
See "Tips for Effective Poster Presentations" for a general discussion of the structure, organization, and assembly details for effective poster presentations for this workshop. The following additional guidelines are specifically intended to encourage preparation of poster presentations which can be more easily transformed into effective web presentations.
In a traditional poster presentation, there is an implied flow from top to bottom and left to right. Visual cues such as arrows also help in directing attention. When transitioning to an online presentation these visual cues become even more important. In addition, it is helpful if each element (page, graph, diagram, drawing, picture, etc.) is numbered in the order in which they are expected to be viewed. Leave plenty of open space - do not crowd text, lists, diagrams, etc.
Online presentaion offers creative possibilities for incorporating supporting text or other media for graphics/images, or graphics/images/sound/video to support text, in a hierarchical structure. This is an excellent way to incorporate some of the information that is typically conveyed by the researcher to an interested viewer. An hierarchical structure can be created using links in an hypertext markup language(html) document or with portable document format(pdf) and other online viewing formats.
Drawings and graphics should have labels.
Annotations and legends should be large enough to be readable at reduced size and resolution.
Lines should be thick enough to be visible when a graph is reduced in size and resolution.
Abbreviations and acronyms should be defined.
(See Examples. Example 1 is quite readable, example 2 is not.)
Use color to add interest and emphasis - but limit the number of colors to about 4, (including black and white).
If bar or line graphs use colors, make sure that they contrast enough to be clearly distinguishable.
Use a consistent color scheme throughout the presentation.
For text, contrast improves readability. Use a light background and dark text. However, avoid extensive use of pure red or blue text since they result in chromatic aberration and appear fuzzy. Red and blue together can result in an appearance of extreme fuzziness. Yellow on a white background is very difficult to read.
(Here are examples of some color combinations which should be avoided.)
Use of multiple fonts is distracting. It is better to choose a single font and use italics, bold, or color for emphasis. Use the same font face in larger sizes for titles and headings.
Use a sans-serif font such as Helvetica.
Do not use all upper case type, even for titles and headings. Titles in a larger type size with initial caps are easier to read.
(Example: TEXT IN ALL CAPS IS DISTRACTING AND HARD TO READ)
Guidelines for Providing Poster Presentations in Web-compatible Format
The manner in which poster presentation material is provided to DOE staff will affect how the web version of the presentation is created. The preferred formats for delivery to DOE are HTML or Portable Document Format (PDF). It is anticipated that all online presentations will be made available on the Web in an html version and/or a pdf version. The care taken by the researcher in preparing the online version will insure that the researcher retain editorial control of how the final product is seen online, including both control of presentation flow and also the layout and quality of the digital product. Some variation in the way materials are delivered to DOE is anticipated, including the following possibilities:
A complete web enabled version of the poster presentation is supplied by the investigator in pdf or html.
This is the preferred alternative for the reasons just given.
Only paper or other non-electronic versions of the elements of the poster display are available.
In this case it is recommended that the investigator have the originals digitized and have any embedded text made machine readable. Digitized images may be delivered in .pdf, .tif, and .jpg formats among others. In the event that the investigator needs assistance in digitizing his/her presentation, some help will be available at the Workshop.
Elements of the poster presentation are provided by the investigator in appropriate electronic formats so that a web version can be produced relatively easily from them.
In this case, the following guidelines are suggested for providing elements of a poster presentation in electronic form for use in developing a web-based version. See also "Tips for Effective Poster Presentations"
In addition to the elements used directly as part of the poster display, Microsoft Word, Word Perfect, or ASCII are recommended formats for text files. For text files containing embedded graphics, the graaphic files should also be included.
Photographs, Drawings, Graphics
Most commonly used graphic file format are acceptable. (JPEG is preferred for photographs because it can be used directly on a web page without conversion and compresses to smaller file sizes than most graphic file formats - while maintaining good color depth.) Many drawings and photos will probably be represented by thumbnail images within the web pages - with links to near full-screen versions (limited to about 400x600 pixels maximum). Other acceptable formats include .tif, .bmp, .eps, .gif, .pic, and .pcx.
If audio is used, provide .au or .wav files. If video is used, provide .mov or MPEG files. These should be relatively short files since web users are unlikely to download large multimedia files.
File naming convention
File names should begin with the five digit Project ID and use standard three character extensions for the file type (e.g., .pdf, .htm., .wpd, .doc, .tif, .gpg, .pbm, .gif, .pic, .eps, etc.) If the five digit Project ID is unknown please refer to the Science Grants web site at http://www.osti.gov/html/em52/sci ence-grants.html. When a specific citation is displayed, the Project ID appears as the last part of the URL. When multiple files are delivered as part of the poster baord presentation, the primary file should be clearly indicated.
Posters and Web Presentations - Differences and Similarities
An entire poster presentation, with all of its elements can be viewed at once. Logical flow and navigation through a poster presentation are based on visual imagery, layout, and visual cues. Web pages are viewed one screen at a time. Therefore, navigation and flow of the presentation must be explicitly defined. The elements and their relationship should be summarized in a content page or navigation map.
A poster presentation is designed for a 4x8 ft. space to be viewed from a distance of about 1-2 meters; a web presentation must be designed to be viewed effectively on computer monitors of different sizes and resolutions from a distance of about 50 centimeters.
While a title header can span an entire poster display board, a web presentation header can only span a single screen. (Although it may be repeated on subsequent screens, if necessary.)
Poster presentations are inherently horizontal while web pages are normally extended vertically. (Although it is possible, but not normal practice, to scroll pages horizontally.)
On computer screens, fonts without serifs (e.g., Helvetica) are much easier to read than those with serifs (e.g., Times Roman). In a poster presentation this distinction is not as critical - although sans-serif fonts are still preferable.
In a poster session, the author/investigator is normally available to verbally elaborate and explain details. A web presentation may need to include additional textual elaboration on some points in a manner which does not interfere with the flow of the presentation.
In either medium, content is always the most important element. Presentation should enhance communication - but not detract from content.
Project and investigator identificationshould be clear and prominent.
Good organization and layout facilitate logical flow of the presentation.
Graphics are critical elements of a good visual presentation.
Colors are used to attract attention to important elements. However, too much color, or too many different colors can be distracting and confusing.
Different fonts (sizes, colors, styles) can be used to emphasize important points. However, font consistency is important for readability. Readability is enhanced by using dark fonts and graphics on a light background.