Transcript WWW: Writing for the Wired World

Words Matter:
Writing for the Web
Darlene Fichter
Data Library Coordinator, U of S Library
January 30, 2004
Overview
Writing & Reading for the Web
Do’s & Don’ts
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Format
Scanning
Style
Language
Jargon
Reading & writing
Goal is to communicate
– Strategy
– Key messages
– Your audience
Rule #1 Write for the way your user's read
How do people read on the screen?
– Top to bottom
– Left to right
– Focus first on
the micro-content
– Scroll to the bottom
– Only after failing
- side menu
- top menu
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People read
25% slower on the screen
Find Arial or Times Roman fonts at 12 pt the
most legible
Reading slower: implications for style
Be succinct
Pyramid style (newspaper)
Scanning – lists, lists and more lists
Looks a lot like PowerPoint
•commercial document delivery services
5 tips
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Strike out useless words.
Avoid noun sandwiches.
Use “you”.
Cut out redundancies.
Use simple, short words.
Avoid all uppercase words.
Instead of
Use
concerning
forward
in order to
facilitate
strategy
access (as a verb)
assistance
construct
in the event of
about
send
to
help
plan
get, assist
help, aid
build
if
Research shows: DON’T read
People who are looking for information don’t
read, they scan.
If they have to read instructions or help page
most people won’t.
“Scanability”
Headings
Lists
Create “zones” or areas with blocks of color
Use links
Effective headings
Set styles and stick to them
Be consistent
– use font and/or color to offset headings
Lists, lists and more lists
Lists are quick to scan
Do not use complete sentences in lists
Which is easiest to read?
Anatomy
Anatomy
Biology
Biology
Biotechnology
Biotechnology
Chemistry
Chemistry
Microbiology
Microbiology
Physics
Physics
Zoology
Zoology
1. White space
2. Bullets
Anatomy
Biology
Biotechnology
Chemistry
Microbiology
Physics
Zoology
3. Neither
Which is faster? Why?
Books
Subjects
Art
Journals
History
Geography
Mathematics
1
Format
Art
Books
Geography
Journals
History
Maps
Mathematics
2
Organizing content for viewing
In columns, not rows
Categorical not alphabetical
Links that work
Make the links in your text meaningful
Make visited and unvisited links contrast with
the base font color.
Example of scanning
How to Find Information
1. Search the catalogue
2. Browse by subject
3. For e-books, click here
4. Visit our list of web resources
5. Recommended web sites on Sociology
Hypertext: classic mistakes
No followed link color
Links are not underlined
Overused – everything is a link
Self referential - To start the tour, click here.
Use links wisely
Hypertext is powerful but can also be
distracting
Links can help reduce clutter by moving
information to separate Web pages
But when concentrating on content, people
often ignore embedded links
Create links that don’t need to be followed
Use long descriptive links, captions, or
headings so users can eliminate choices
UIE’s research shows that links with 4 to 9
words are more effective
Review what we know:
1. Writing
2. Scanning
3. Links
Tour
Some sites
– Jot down notes / opinions about the ability to
scan and find words quickly
– If you focus on the writing and content which are
the strengths and weaknesses?
Language
Use the language of your users
Ambiguity is a problem
Provide context
Classic mistakes on library sites
Library sites are full of jargon
–WinSPIRS
–EbscoHost
–Access
–Database
–Gateway
–Services
–Electronic Reserves
“Serial failure”
Finding articles
Many studies
– Don’t know “database”
– Names of database
– Software product – Ovid, Webspirs
Labels are challenging
 Testing helps
 Use a “cookie test”
 Create a list of possible
labels:
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My Account
Borrower Information
Library Card
Your Library Card
Go where your users are
Your lunch room or hallways at lunch break
Aim for cross-section
Ask which they prefer
Reverse Study: Take a few concepts and ask them what
they would call the item or group of items?
Other important writing tasks
Errors
– Should stand out from other text
– Should be comprehensible
404 not found ?
Things to avoid
“Marketese”
– Anything that sounds like “advertising” is a
complete turn off … the best, the biggest …
The “Buzz”: reusability
Write once, use many times
Device independent access
Break content in small nuggets
Assemble to suit
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Web Pages
WAP
Headline Services
Alerts
Myths & ironies
Everyone owns a “printing press”
Explosion of publishing
Dirth of “good writing”
Need good writers’ that can create concise
and interesting headlines
Secret to good wired writing
Observe and learn
Write often
Revise, revise and revise
Read the usability studies and research
reports
Good news for librarians
Some of it comes naturally
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Group and categorize
Assign labels
Think about words & meaning
Service oriented
Sites for web writing
 Writing for the Web – Jakob Nielsen
http://www.useit.com/papers/webwriting/
 Good Documents: How to write for the INTRAnet
http://www.gooddocuments.com/
 Yale’s Web Style Guide: Editorial
http://info.med.yale.edu/caim/manual/pages/editorial_style.html
 Software Usability Research Laboratory Newsletter
http://www.usabilitynews.org
 National Cancer Institute Usability.gov http://www.usability.gov/
Books, columns & sites
Writing and Usability
– http://library.usask.ca/~fichter/writing/
Thank you!
Questions?
Darlene Fichter
University of Saskatchewan Libraries
library.usask.ca/~fichter/