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Re: URL's for writing for the web

for

From: Patrick Lauke
Date: Feb 16, 2007 5:30AM

> Gary Williamson

> Does anyone
> have some good URLs for Writing for the web with an emphasis
> on accessibility?
> thanks

Maybe I haven't had enough coffee yet this morning, but one of the things I ranted to my colleague about recently: the whole "writing for the web" idea is looking at the issue from the wrong angle.

You always hear things like "on the web, people only skim read" and "on the web, people don't want lengthy marketing blurb and waffle, just the facts", "on the web, people's attention span is short ... blah blah ... your competitor's site is only one click away" etc.

JUST on the web? Does this not apply to ANY communication medium? If I do a leaflet, are the considerations not exactly the same? And is it not a huge generalisation to say that all reading online is done in exactly the same way? Of course, it depends on what the user/reader is actually trying to achieve...not that he/she happens to be doing it "on the web".

So, instead of specific "for the web" courses, there should be "good writing...full stop" courses.

Writing needs to be appropriate for the audience's expectations and needs, regardless of what medium it's delivered in. If I read a tabloid newspaper, I also "skim read", for instance. And on some sites, depending on what content I'm actually looking for, I'm quite prepared NOT to skim read, but to actually read it thoroughly, despite the usual adage of "people will print it if it's long, because paper has better contrast". Rubbish, a crude generalisation! Even if it's a long text, I often read it on screen as I can quickly cross-reference things, open up different windows, fire off a wikipedia search, etc...unless I need to read it without extraneous distractions such as emails popping in, or it's actually an immersive piece of fiction or something. Again, it's about the nature of the text and my intentions/expectations, not about the medium.

As for accessibility and writing, again I'd say that it's the same, regardless of medium (be it "for the web" or for print etc):
- Clear, simple language.
- Active rather than passive whenever appropriate.
- Short sentences usually preferable to big, long, convoluted, triple nested sentences (think Hemmingway)
- Don't string up big convoluted sentences with semicolons (one of George Orwell's pet hate, apparently).
- Avoid overuse of parenthetical sections in your sentences - if it's not necessary, then don't put it in in the first place.
- Use bulleted/numbered lists liberally, whenever appropriate.
- Don't use big words unnecessarily when small simple words do the job just as well.
- Logically break up your text into easily digestible chunks.
- Use headings liberally to provide good "landing points" for a reader to skip to (while visually scanning, or - if using screen readers etc - through keyboard navigation).
- Avoid idiomatic sentences, slang, colloquialisms, specialist terminology that may not make any sense to somebody whose cultural, social, etc background may be different (e.g. international students, somebody not from that particular specialist area, etc).
- Avoid overuse of acronyms and abbreviations that make the text more impenetrable.

... to name but a few ...

Right, off to get caffeine...

P