Click here to see examples of a rollover interactive
Rollover interactives are a compact way to show more information about a diagram than will fit in the space available. These were used frequently in the courses I collaborated on, typically to show forms and documents and the information to be filled into each field, or oil field equipment and the identification of parts or functions. It’s a simple way to show an image without having large labels covering up areas of the diagram. The “hot spots” where the user’s cursor can trigger the rollover effect may be highlighted or hidden.
The text content for these rollovers is loaded from an XML document and the “bubbles” that appear on rollover are dynamically generated and positioned relative to the hot spot using ActionScript.
In order to be able to share these publicly, I have replaced the proprietary content with useful information about mythical beasts. However, in the case of these two rollovers, the beasts displayed are not mythical. They are real animals that were historically maligned and artistically misinterpreted. Perhaps the naturalist or sailor returning from the New World chose to wildly exaggerate the nature of the animals he saw. Maybe the artist doing the drawing heard the description third-, fourth- or fifth- hand and through the “telephone game” effect, got a garbled description. Or perhaps both the naturalist and the artist were under the influence of something mind-altering. The last theory might be the only explanation for the following hilarious interpretation of the Manatee, thought by medieval people to be a blood-thirsty man-eater.
The Jocular Manatee. You laugh, but it could tear you pieces!
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