The Special Role of Visual Elements in Contemporary Online Reading

Researchers investigating the nature of online text comprehension regularly indi-cate the following observations� First, defining online text is problematic because of the strong presence of visuality� Second, visual elements significantly influence

and modify the meaning of a text, thus we should examine the mutual effects of texts and visual elements on each other in online reading processes (Szabó 2015c)�

Above, I have already shown that visual elements, both in the case of printed and online texts illustrate, complete and explain the main text – on the first level of comprehension� Furthermore, they give meaning to the texts and drive the reader’s attention during the reading process� In short, there is interplay among the text and visual elements� Now, I claim that visual elements have at least an equal or even a dominant role over text in the online reading processes� Visual elements do not just support comprehension, but dominate or even replace online texts� “[R]eaders’ imagination is a matter of ordering elements in contrast to fill-ing traditional text with meanfill-ing� […] readers do fill images with meanfill-ing also”

(Weasenforth 2006: 27)� Moreover, “images are plain full of meaning, whereas words wait to be filled” (Kress 2003: 3)� Thus, “the conceptualization of textuality is changing as images seem to dominate text and as screen overtake paper […]”

and “writing becoming subordinated to the logic of the visual” (Kress 2003: 5)�

This is a cardinal change in comparison to traditional theories about printed texts, claiming the dominance of texts over visual elements� In this sense we could talk about the rediscovery of the visual�

It is time to reflect on the topic called visual literacy� Visual literacy is the “ability to decode, interpret, create, question, challenge and evaluate texts that commu-nicate with visual images as well as, or rather than, words� Visually literate people can read, interpret the purpose and the intended meaning, and evaluate the form, structure and features of the text� They can also use picture and word images in a creative and appropriate way to express meaning” (Carry n� a�: 13)� This definition is based on a theory implying that “picture books, magazines, newspapers, adver-tisements and films create meaning through shape, line, colour, actions, eye paths and angles” (W3: 3)� Thus, here again, the main issue is the role of visual elements embedded into some kinds of texts� The connection between text and visual is so strong that in some cases – e� g� in online reading – the text is subordinated to the visual� To be “[…] able to make sense of what we see in images and understanding how these pictures relate to the writing associated with them” (W3: 2) is the main issue of visual literacy – and online reading literacy, as well�

There is continuity in the printed – digital – online reading triad and visuality has its own important, variant and intensifying role in every step of this path�

Focusing on online reading, the special role of visual elements could be the fol-lowing (Figure 3)�

Digital and Visual Literacy 109 Figure 3: The role of visual elements in online reading

(source: image created by the author)

With this we have returned to the question of what it means to be “text” in the online space� With taking the notion of visual text we get an even more complex picture, where we should take the following features into consideration as well (Figure 4)�

Figure 4: The complexity of visual texts

(source: Carry n. a.: 8)

According to the above, the answer would be: online text is like the web itself� It is a sort of content composed from text (characters, words, sentences) and visual elements (pictures, images, graphics, etc�)� With this definition, the already fuzzy concept of online text comprehension may become even more complex, but it could serve as a step forward to get a better understanding on online reading literacy�

5. Conclusion

In my paper I focused on the special role of visuality in the online reading process�

I claimed that visual elements are neither just illustrations, nor just explanatory additional elements nor secondary qualities beside texts, but they have at least an equal or even a dominating role over text in online reading processes� First, to sup-port my hypothesis, I separated the notions of printed, digital and online reading from each other and then I examined the connection between offline reading and visuality in the traditional sense� Second, I discussed the role of visual elements in the case of printed text and online texts as well as visual texts, and referred briefly to some special cases, too� I demonstrated on three levels that visual elements have three important roles in online texts and – contrary to traditional views – texts do not dominate the visual anymore� Moreover, visuality has gained dominance over text in the online space, and it is better to talk about texts as webs or contents which built up from characters and visual elements�

This shift in the hierarchy of texts and visual elements is so significant that it basically modifies and influences online reading and text comprehension – thus we should take it into account in contemporary reading literacy research and surveys as well�

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