Writing for the Web
Notes from Insite Web Publishing Training CGCC 8-29-2013
Why different
O Collaborative O People scan 4.4 seconds 18 words O Read only 20% of text
O Low screen resolution O Task oriented people need to feel productive
O User controlled medium
O They can:
O Turn off graphics
O Change font size
O Navigation important
O Links to other pages and other URLs
O F-shape scan pattern
O Important info top and left side of page O Users goal in mind
Know your audience
O Consider audience O Who they are O Why they are using the web
O GoalsO about your business O make it obvious what page is about
O Questions they may ask O User scenarios O Business story O What does success look like O How they deal with failure
Useful web pages
O Types O Navigation-home page O Information-news, FQA, staff
O Interaction-feedback, upload, download,
O
O
O O
O
O
shopping cart Write information not documents (think index cards) Layer information-important information at top Omit words Focus on essential message Break up walls of words-links, lists, headings Use paragraphs and heading 1 idea per paragraph
Useful web pages-continued
O Align terms on page
O Dont center O Left column
O If everything is bold-nothing is bold
O Do not use capitals block text is harder to read O Do not underline text underlined text is linked-
dont use it for emphasis O NO double space after periods just like Word
Links
O Use texts for links not images or icons O Write meaningful text NOT click here O Text should agree with title of linked resource
O Can repeat important links throughout content
O Always check links O Indicate where non-Web links go pdf file, Word,
etc O Use the tile attribute to describe links for mouse over O Dont open Web pages in new window pdfs ok
Titles and headings (#1)
O Use descriptive page titles O Outline our content with headings (#2)
O 1 heading per page = #1 heading (largest font) (#3) O Topics = #2 headings (next largest font) O Sub topics = #3 headings (smaller text) O Smaller text if needed (#4)
O Use hierarch, make it obvious O Use questions as headings
O Use statements to convey messages
O Use action phrases for instruction O Use parallelism
O Parent Resources
O Teacher Resources
O Dont use dates just have to update
Paragraphs and sentences
O Keep it short
O One idea per paragraph
O Omit words
O Start with the context
O Put the actin in verbs, not nouns O Use audiences language
O Know your audience
O Know your business
Lists
O Easy to scan by viewer O Easy to grab O Important info at top
O Introduce each new list
O Keep short
O 10 items O 1 statement or sentence
O Use appropriate list style
O Procedures numbered O Similar items bulleted
O Instructions in steps
O Use parallelism
Tables
O Use tables appropriately O Do not use tables for layout O Use for
O quick comparison
O If , then statements O Answers to questions
O Keep simple O Think about width and length O Dont center text
