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