Linguistic annotation is an important means of adding information to corpora of spoken or written language. While some less complex annota- tion tasks can be performed automatically, a great number of annotation tasks require manual annotation, which is typically very time-consuming and tedious. As a consequence, tools for manual annotation tasks should provide a user-friendly interface that makes the annotation process as convenient and efficient as possible; in other words, usability should play an important role in the design of such tools. This article contributes to the field of “visual linguis- tics” by investigating the role of visualization in linguistic annotation tools with regard to good and bad usability practices. While there are several studies that are dedicated to visualizing linguistic results, visualization in the context of linguistic annotation has so far been largely neglected. Accordingly, a heuristic walkthrough evaluation study with 11 annotation tools was conducted to find out about typical usability problems. It showed that many of the usability issues identified during the evaluation are related to aspects of interaction design. However, there are also a large number of usability issues that are directly con- nected to aspects of visualization and visual design. These aspects of good and bad visualization are discussed by means of existing usability heuristics, which can be used to illustrate and explain how and why visualization influences the usability of linguistic annotation tools.

Depuis 1986, face aux mutations du contexte interne et international, la Francophonie poursuit et accentue la prise en compte d’objectifs politiques et noue l’ambition de devenir un acteur influent des relations internationales. Pour ce faire, elle n’a cessé de s’élargir et de se doter progressivement des moyens institutionnels et normatifs nécessaires. Aujourd’hui, son rôle politique commence à être reconnu. Elle est devenue un laboratoire d’un système international multipolaire en formation et d’une autre mondialisation humaniste. Elle est, aussi, un nouvel acteur et interlocuteur politique de ses membres en matière de démocratie, de droits de l’Homme ainsi que de prévention et de règlement des conflits. Pourtant, plusieurs défis stratégiques et le manque de moyens l’empêchent de devenir un acteur de premier plan et les « acquis » de ses actions demeurent fragiles. Face à cette situation, il est important pour la Francophonie, dans la perspective du nouveau Cadre stratégique décennal (2015-2024), de redéfinir sa stratégie. L’avenir de la Francophonie peut épouser, en effet, plusieurs scénarios. Doit-elle évoluer vers une vraie organisation politique en abandonnant les autres volets de son engagement et en particulier les volets solidarité et développement ? Doit–elle, au contraire, fidèle à sa spécificité, conjuguer étroitement, sans renoncer à aucune, ses missions de dialogue, de solidarité et de développement ? Avant tout, il convient qu’elle redevienne conquérante. De toute façon, il apparait indispensable de la rendre utile aux peuples francophones et de renforcer l’adhésion de ceux-ci par le vivre ensemble. Deux chantiers sont incontournables : l’éducation et l’économie. / Since 1986, in response to changes in the domestic and international context, the Francophonie has taken into consideration political objectives and showed ambition to become an influential actor in international relations. In order to achieve this goal, the organization has not stopped widening and gradually been equipped with necessary institutional and normative tools. Today, its political role begins to be internationally recognized. It has become a laboratory of a multi-polar international system which has been forming and of another humanist globalization project. It is also a new actor and political interlocutor of its members in terms of democracy, human rights, as well as conflict prevention and resolution. Nevertheless, several strategic challenges and lack of resources prevent it from becoming a major player at the forefront and its "achievements" remain fragile. Faced with this situation, it is important that the Francophonie, in the perspective of the new ten-year strategic framework (2015-2024), redefines its strategy. In fact, the future of the Francophonie can engage in several scenarios. Must it evolve towards a real political organization by abandoning its commitment to other sectors, particularly solidarity and development ? Must it, on the contrary, be faithful to its specificity and conjugate the factors of dialogue, solidarity, and development without sacrificing any of them ? Above all, it should again become a conqueror. By any means, it appears indispensable to make the Francophonie useful for the French-speaking peoples and to strengthen their engagement by fostering their common activities. Two domains are indispensable : education and economy.