EDITORIAL STYLE
People read differently on the Web.
(Content attributed to Web Style Guide, 3rd edition, Lynch/Horton)
- One reason for this is that reading text on-screen is unpleasant. Given the low resolution of the computer screen and the clumsiness of the scrolling page, many readers scan onscreen and print pages for reading.
- Another reason is that Web reading is not a stationary activity. Users roam from page to page collecting salient bits of information from a variety of sources. They need to be able quickly to ascertain the contents of a page, get the information they are seeking, and move on.
- Also, because Web pages may be accessed directly without preamble, they must be more independent than print pages. Too many Web pages end up as isolated fragments of information, divorced from the larger context of their parent Web sites through the lack of essential links and the simpler failure to inform the reader properly of their contents.
One of the most obvious characteristics of Web writing is hypertext links. Web authors use hypertext links to create or supplement concepts: a list of related links can reinforce their content or even serve as the focus of their site. The problem posed by links has little to do with the Web but is rooted in the concept of hypertext: Can the quick juxtaposition of two separate but conceptually related pieces of information encourage a better understanding of the overall message? A collection of links cannot create or sustain an argument or deliver a collection of facts as efficiently or legibly as conventional linear prose. When there is no sustained narrative, readers are sent aimlessly wandering in their quest for information. Links also become a maintenance issue, because most Web pages are ephemeral. Broken links shake the reader's confidence in the validity and timeliness of content.
- Links should be used sparingly and as a reinforcement of, not a substitute for, content.
Organizing your prose
- Documents written to be read online must be concise and structured for scanning.
- People tend to skim Web pages rather than read them word by word.
- Use headings, lists, and typographical emphasis for words or sections you wish to highlight; these are the elements that will grab the user's attention during a quick scan.
- Keep these elements clear and precise — use your page and section heads to describe the material.
The "inverted pyramid" style used in journalism works well on Web pages, with the conclusion appearing at the beginning of a text. Place the important facts near the top of the first paragraph where users can find them quickly.
- Concise writing is always better, but don't "dumb down" what you have to say.
- Web authors often cut so much out of their presentations that what remains would barely fill a printed pamphlet.
- You can assume that readers will print anything longer than half a page and read it offline. Simply make printing easy for your readers and you can use the Web to deliver content without cutting the heart out of what you have to say.
"Chunking" information
- Most information on the World Wide Web is gathered in short reference documents that are intended to be read nonsequentially. This is particularly true of sites whose contents are mostly technical or administrative documents.
- Long before the Web was invented, technical writers discovered that readers appreciate short "chunks" of information that can be located and scanned quickly.
This method for presenting information translates well to the Web for several reasons:
- Few Web users spend time reading long passages of text on-screen. Most users either save long documents to disk or print them for more comfortable reading.
- Discrete chunks of information lend themselves to Web links. The user of a Web link usually expects to find a specific unit of relevant information, not a book's worth of general content.
- But don't overly subdivide your information or you will frustrate your readers. One to two pages (as printed) of information is about the maximum size for a discrete chunk of information on the Web.
Chunking can help organize and present information in a uniform format.
- This allows users not only to apply past experience with a site to future searches and explorations but also to predict how an unfamiliar section of a Web site will be organized.
- Concise chunks of information are better suited to the computer screen, which provides a limited view of long documents. Long Web pages tend to disorient readers; they require users to scroll long distances and to remember what is off-screen.
- The concept of a chunk of information must be flexible and consistent with common sense, logical organization, and convenience. Let the nature of the content suggest how it should be subdivided and organized.
- At times it makes sense to provide long documents as a subdivided and linked set of Web pages. Although short Web documents are usually preferable, it often makes little sense to divide a long document arbitrarily, particularly if you want users to be able to print easily or save the entire document in one step.
- Don't break up a long document arbitrarily; users will have to download each segment and will have difficulty printing or saving the entire piece.
- The key to good chunking is to divide your information into comprehensive segments. That way readers will have direct and complete access to the topics they are interested in without having to wade through irrelevant material or follow a series of links to get the whole picture.
Online style
For most Web writing you should assume that your carefully crafted prose will not be read word by word. This is not the case, of course, for texts such as journal articles or teaching materials: in many cases these more complicated texts will be printed and read offline. But most online information is best presented using short segments of texts written in a clear, concise style and with ample use of editorial landmarks.
Prose style
- Web writing should be short, concise and factual. Most Web readers are looking for information, and they find it not by reading a Web page word by word but rather by scanning the page for relevant items.
Other stylistic considerations
- Be frugal. Make sure that the text you present is worth something to the reader. Avoid empty chatter like welcome text or instructions on how to use the site. Users should be able to determine who you are by your navigation and page design, and your interface should be clear enough that it doesn't require instructions. Don't use the first paragraph of each page to tell users what information they'll find there. Instead, start with the information, written in the concise and factual prose style shown above.
- Stick to the point. Write in easily understood sentences. Steer clear of clever headings and catchy but meaningless phrases that users must think about and explore further to understand.
- Cultivate a voice. Web readers welcome a measure of individuality from their information sources. With so many competing sources, a unique voice may help distinguish your pages, but beware of going "over the top." When it comes to attitude, there is a fine line between engaging and annoying.
- Think globally. Remember that you are designing documents for the World Wide Web and that your audience may not understand conventions specific to your little corner of the world. For example, when including dates, use the international date format of day / month / year (e.g., 14 March 2001). Also, avoid metaphors and puns that may make sense only in the context of your language and culture.
Titles and subtitles
Editorial landmarks like titles and headers are the fundamental human interface device in Web pages, just as they are in any print publication. A consistent approach to titles, headlines, and subheadings in your documents will help your readers navigate through a complex set of Web pages.
Text styles
The text styles we recommend:
Headline style: Bold, capitalize initial letters of words
- Document titles
- References to other Web sites
- Titles of documents mentioned in the text
- Proper names, product names, trade names
Down style: Bold, capitalize first word only
- Subheads
- References to other sections within the site
- Figure titles
- Lists
Page titles
Web page titles are designated in the HTML document head section with the TITLE tag. The title is crucial for several reasons. Often the title is the first thing users with slow Internet connections will see; it also becomes the text for any bookmarks the reader makes to your pages. In addition, most search engines regard the page title as the primary descriptor of page content, so a descriptive title increases the chance that a page will appear as the result of a related search query.
The page title should:
- Incorporate the name of your company, organization, or Web site
- Form a concise, plainly worded reminder of the page contents
Always consider what your page title will look like in a long list of bookmarks. Will the title remind the reader of what he or she found interesting about your pages?
Text formatting for web documents
Some points about text formatting specific to the Web:
- Excessive markup. Beware of too much markup in your paragraphs. Too many links or too many styles of typeface will destroy the homogeneous, even "type color" that characterizes good typesetting.
- Link colors. If you are including links in the body of your text, choose custom link colors that closely match your text color. Reading from the screen is hard enough without struggling with distracting link colors scattered across the page.
- Use the best tool. Write your text in a good word processing program with spell-checking and search features. Transfer your text to HTML only after it has been proofread.
- Style sheets in word processors. Don't use the word processor's style sheets to produce "All capitals" or other formatting effects. You will lose those special formats when you convert to plain ASCII text for HTML use.
- Special characters. Don't use the "smart quotes" feature. Avoid all special characters, such as bullets, ligatures, and typographer's en and em dashes, that are not supported in standard HTML text. Consult a good HTML guidebook (we recommend several in the References) for the listing of special and international characters supported through HTML's extended character formatting.
- No auto hyphens. Never use the automatic hyphenation feature of your word processor on text destined for the Web. This may add nonstandard "optional hyphen" characters that will not display properly in Web browsers.
Links
Two basic types of links are used in Web sites:
- navigational links connect pages within a site
- the classic hypertext links offer parenthetical material, footnotes, digressions, or parallel themes that the author believes will enrich the main content of the page.
Although navigational links can cause problems in site design, more disruptive is the overuse or poor placement of hypertext links.
Hypertext links pose two fundamental design problems.
- They disrupt the flow of content in your site by inviting the reader to leave your site.
- They can also radically alter the context of information by dumping the reader into unfamiliar territory without preamble or explanation.
The primary design strategy in thoughtful hypertext is to use links to reinforce your message, not to distract readers or send them off chasing a minor footnote in some other Web site. Most links in a Web site should point to other resources within your site, pages that share the same graphic design, navigational controls, and overall content theme.
Whenever possible, integrate related visuals or text materials into your site so that readers do not have the sense that you have dumped them outside your site's framework. If you must send your reader away, make sure the material around the link makes it clear that the reader will be leaving your Web site and entering another site by following the link. Provide a description of the linked site along with the link so users understand the relevance of the linked material.
Maintain context
The key to good hypertext linking is to maintain context, so that the reader stays within the narrative flow and design environment of your site. If you place a simple link on your page, these plain links will work within a single browser window — your content will disappear and the linked page will fill the window. If you use this kind of link to point away from your site, you will probably lose your readers.
The simplest way to maintain context using links to other sites is to add the TARGET="main" argument to your link tags. This will cause the linked page to appear in a new browser window in front of the one containing your page. This feature allows your reader to access new material without losing visual contact with your site.
Placing links
Links are a distraction. It is pointless to write a paragraph and then fill it with invitations to your reader to go elsewhere. You can minimize the disruptive quality of links by managing their placement on the page.
- Put only the most salient links within the body of your text, and remember that these links should open new browser windows so that you don't supplant the original pages. But most links do not belong in the middle of the page — they won't be important enough to justify the potential distractions they pose.
- Group all minor, illustrative, parenthetic, or footnote links at the bottom of the document where they are available but not distracting.
If you do place links in the body of your text, pay close attention to your language. Never construct a sentence around a link phrase, such as "click here for more information." Write the sentence as you normally would, and place the link anchor on the word or words that best describe the additional content you are linking to.
- Poor: Click here for more information on placing links within your text.
- Better: Avoid problems with Web links by managing their placement within the context of your document.
(Content attributed to Web Style Guide, 3rd edition, Lynch/Horton)
To add a little more to our discussion about writing for the web, here are some examples from a couple of books that you might find useful. Both contain good information about user-centered design and web content.
Letting Go of the Words: Writing Web Content that Works by Janice Redish
- Chapter 1 Content! Content! Content! (PDF, 1.3MB)
- Chapter 5 Writing Information, Not Documents (PDF, 2.5MB)
For more info about the book, consult the publisher's web site.
Hot Text! Web Writing that Works by Jonathan and Lisa Price
For more info about the book and related writing resources, consult the publisher's web site.
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