Glitzy graphics are frequently an inhibition to good design.
Images changing unexpectedly can be unwelcome surprises. While a high degree of interactivity is fun and engaging, interesting and useful content can be more compelling and satisfying. It is not inaccessible to the novice designer. Annotated Inktomi and Coyote enables the reader to go smoothly from the tale, to the annotation, to the footnotes. The coding isn't complex, but there's a lot of it to present a simple interface for the reader.