A wall of text is deadly for an interactive experience.

-Jakob Nielsen, usability expertSource: “Top Ten Mistakes in Web Design” http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9605.html

Intimidating.

Tips from the Web Style Guide

• Make sure the text you present is of immediate value.

• Avoid empty chatter such as 'welcome' messages or instructions on how to use the site.

• Don’t use the first paragraph of each page to tell users what information they’ll find on the page.

Source: Web Style Guide, 3rd edition. Patrick J. Lynch & Sarah Horton. Chapter 9: Editorial Style

http://webstyleguide.com/wsg3/9-editorial-style/3-online-style.html

Tips from Jakob Nielsen

• Write in inverted pyramid style

• Use sub-headings

• Make bulleted lists

• Keep paragraphs short

• Highlight keywords

Source: “Top Ten Mistakes in Web Design” http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9605.html

Image source: http://www.dailywritingtips.com/the-inverted-pyramid/

Avoid Library Jargon!

• database• library catalog• e-journals• index• interlibrary loan• periodical or serial

• reference• resource• subject categories (such as

Humanities or Social Sciences)• acronyms & brand names

John Kupersmith has compiled results from 51 usability studies. According to his data, the following words are commonly misunderstood by library users:

His data shows that users respond better to phrases like find books or find articles. Rather than trying to label the tool, try to label according to the task that the tool helps users accomplish.

Source: “Library Terms That Users Understand” http://www.jkup.net/terms.html

LinksWhenever possible, use the Simple Web Links box or the Links and Lists box type.

Why? Because this will allow you to see how many people visit those links. We’ll talk more about usage statistics later.

Sometimes using links in your text is unavoidable.

When you must, keep in mind that the text you use

should:

• Act as a call to action (think “contact us”

or “log in”, not “click here”)

• Provide some information when

read out of context

• Explain what the link offers

Source: “Don’t use ‘click here’ as link text,” World Wide Web Consortium http://www.w3.org/QA/Tips/noClickHere

Use a consistent approach to titles, headings, subheadings, and keywords

Note that each heading:

• Is bolded

• Capitalizes the first letter of each word

• Has one blank line above and below each heading

Source: Web Style Guide, 3rd edition. Patrick J. Lynch & Sarah Horton. Chapter 9: Editorial Stylehttp://webstyleguide.com/wsg3/9-editorial-style/3-online-style.html

Use a consistent approach to titles, headings, subheadings, and keywords

What approach did I use to highlight important words and phrases in this document?

Hint: review slides 3-5

Source: Web Style Guide, 3rd edition. Patrick J. Lynch & Sarah Horton. Chapter 9: Editorial Stylehttp://webstyleguide.com/wsg3/9-editorial-style/3-online-style.html