Date post: | 01-Jan-2016 |
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Basic Principles
1. Users (usually) don't read
2. Content is a conversation
3. Text is wayfinding
4. Keep it short!
5. Keep accessibility and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) in mind
• “Communication at Waterloo? It’s about clarity, knowing your audience, and meeting their needs.”– Tell it like it is– Know your audience– Have a voice
• This is good writing for the web!
Users don't read, they scan
• Very important principle of web writing• Looking for relevant information• Often looking for specific information• Is this relevant? Is it interesting? Is it
useful?
It's a conversation
• Be casual, personal• Read it aloud• What does the user
need to know?• Talk to them: use
“you”, “we”• Avoid jargon, acronyms
It's a conversation
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Content as wayfinding
• Scanning to find relevant content• Am I in the right place?• Does your content help or
hinder?• Sometimes no text is good text• Users coming from different
directions; may not have the context you expect
Keywords
• Users skim for keywords that match what they are looking for
• May enter these words into a search engine
ADMISSIO
NS
Residence
Co-opOrientation
Scholarships
Style Guide
eCommunity
Majors
Writing for scan-ability
• Get to the point!• Inverted pyramid style• Be direct• Give users only what they
need to know
Keep it short!
• Short paragraphs, short sentences• Be succinct• Say only what you need to say (not
more)• Remove unessential words
Titles & Headings
• Used for wayfinding & SEO• Each topic needs a heading• Be specific• Use keywords• Should make sense out of context
Paragraphs and sentences
• One idea per paragraph• Short – 1-3 sentences per paragraph• Compound sentences difficult to scan,
translate
Use short, simple sentences
The reputational rankings are always Waterloo’s pride, but the university also ranks high on objective criteria, according to Maclean’s, which placed Waterloo third in Canada — the same as last year — among the 12 “comprehensive” universities it ranked.
The reputational rankings are always Waterloo’s pride, but the university also ranks high on objective criteria. Maclean’s placed Waterloo third in Canada among the 12 “comprehensive” universities it ranked.
Using links
• Users may scan through links• Screen readers facilitate this• Use clear labels• Make sure other text doesn’t look like a link
Example:
Formatting for readability
• Use correct formatting for all text elements– Headings– Paragraphs– Lists– Tables
• Design will enforce good formatting, spacing, link colours etc.
Useful metrics
• Recommended maximum lengths– headings: 250 characters– paragraphs: less than 3 sentences– sentences: less than 20 words
Resources
• How users read on the web (c. 1997!): http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9710a.htmland other articles:http://www.useit.com/papers/webwriting/
• Yahoo style guide (Writing):http://styleguide.yahoo.com/writing
• Writing effective web documents:http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/clf2-nsi2/tb-bo/td-dt/wewd-rdwe-eng.asp
Resources
• Waterloo Positioning Guide: http://positioningguide.uwaterloo.ca
• Writing for international audience: http://www.webpagecontent.com/arc_archive/139/5/