Annotated Screenshots / Video Casts are a Requirement
Written By: Shane Clark on September 13, 2022
Firstly, web development is challenging. One challenge is getting work to render the same or at least presentably in all the major browsers and devices. Above all, to able to fix a specific browser or device “bug” it’s critical to be able to see it. Therefore, in the “agency” / “end client” relationship it should be established that screenshots are a requirement. You should set this forth within the initial contract. This will save both parties both time and aggravation. It takes me 10 minutes or less to train a “retail client” how to use a screencast and video cast tool. You should do this prior to the start of development. I use the word “annotated” as a plain screenshot without notes and arrows in many cases does not always provide an indication of the exact issue.
Establishing the Importance of Screenshots Up Front
It is important to make it very clear that screenshots are not being asked for to make life more difficult for your client and that the benefits outweigh the time investment. There is always apprehension about using new tools and technologies. The less technical the client, the harder it will be to convince them that they will be capable of using new tools / software. Letting your clients know the more involved they are in the process of giving feedback for their website, the better the end product will be.
Best Screenshot / Videocasting Tools for Desktops / Laptops
With the number of browsers out there and as dynamic as the web has gotten, I have added videocasting to what I require my client to send upon request. Most of the major tools will support both screenshots and videocasts. My default recommendation for retail clients is TechSmith Capture (Formerly Jing). TechSmith is the leader in videocasting and screenshot tools for the past 30 years. I personally use SnagIt which is another tool made by TechSmith. The major advantage for me of using SnagIt is being able to save videos to an MP4 format. Jing used to be one of the leading tools for screenshots. However, it was discontinued because it used the SWF format (a Flash video format). Unfortunately, support for Adobe Flash stopped years ago, so all tools that rely on Flash are subsequently discontinued.
Another great tool is Awesome Screenshot. I use this in conjunction with SnagIt for my day to day needs. Awesome Screenshot runs as a browser extension and is available from Chrome, Mozilla and Safari. The advantage of Awesome Screenshot is the ease in capturing the full view of a page even as it runs off the view of a monitor. I view this tool as a solid alternative to any of the TechSmith products.
There are plenty of great screen and video capture programs available. A couple more are CloudApp and Screencastify. Both have tiered pricing plans with a free tier. Both have the features you would expect from screen and video capture software: screen capture, video capture, image editor, scrolling capture, text extraction, screen record, file sharing, and platform search.
Best Screenshot / Videocasting Tools for Mobile
With the number of devices that are out in the marketplace, it is important to create a plan to deal with getting screenshots and possibly videocasts for the developer. For screenshots what I do is take the screenshot on my phone / tablet and it automatically uploads to dropbox. If I think it needs to be marked up for clarification I will use the SnagIt tool on my desktop or laptop. For videocasting there are a few tools that I recommend based on the device type. For IOS / Apple, I have been using the free version of screencast-o-matic. I found it to be easy enough to use to be able to make a video on my phone to transfer back to my desktop / laptop. For Android devices I recommend DU Recorder.
