#34559
“About Us” Doesn’t Have to be All “Ugh.”
No matter how beautifully designed, if a site’s voice doesn’t ring true, it’s easy to spot an “ugh.” Rather than using this section of a site like a congratulatory press release, consider approaching “About Us” like a magazine’s Editor Letter.
Vollenweider, Julie. Brain Traffic (2009). Articles>Web Design>Writing>Business Communication
#34614
People don’t come to the web to linger over the words. Most uses of the web are for gathering information or doing tasks, not for the pleasure of reading. If your busy web users lose interest or don’t find the information relevant, they’ll stop reading. If they can’t find what they need quickly enough, they’ll leave your site and go elsewhere.
Redish, Janice C. 'Ginny'. Redish.net (2007). Articles>Web Design>Writing
#34618
New Accessibility Guidelines Part III: Understandability
The understandability of text is crucial to web accessibility. At broad levels, this means specifying text languages, explaining the meanings of jargon or idioms, and expanding abbreviations to clarify text. It's not just text that can present a barrier to accessibility, however. A lack of organizational predictability or proper error management can greatly decrease the accessibility of any website.
Dolson, Joseph C. Practical eCommerce (2009). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility>Writing
#34635
The task of writing clearly and simply has never been either clear or simple. In fact, it can be one of the most difficult of all writing tasks. Clear and simple writing is an art to which many aspire and few achieve. Even so, the understandability of web content depends upon clear and simple writing. Unclear or confusing writing is an accessibility barrier to all readers, but can be especially difficult for people with reading disorders or cognitive disabilities.
WebAIM (2007). Articles>Web Design>Writing>Cognitive Psychology
#34679
Be Known For Your Content, Not Your Name!
Be known for your content first, for your name second. I can’t bear to hear anyone say one more time that “content is king,” but the truth is simple, if painful.
Content Strategy Noob (2009). Articles>Content Management>Web Design>Writing
#34686
#34716
Always keep the small screen in mind when you’re preparing your docs. There are some W3C “mobileOK” guidelines to consider to ensure that your content meets requirements. Here are some highlights.
Norris, Julie. 2moro Docs (2009). Articles>Web Design>Wireless Web>Technical Writing
#34738
How to Write Web Copy That Sells
How you write your copy really makes a huge difference to your online sales. And even if you don't sell products directly, good sales copy will help you persuade the user to make a donation, subscribe to your newsletter or complete an application form. Here's how you do it.
Content Strategy (2009). Articles>Web Design>Writing>Marketing
#34743
The discipline of writing for the web has changed in recent years. Once a matter of simply shortening texts, writing for the web has begun to mean choosing the right words and using them the right way. What the right words are and how they should be used now depend on the kind of web copy you are writing. Content-Strategy has developed three different free check lists to help you on your way.
Content Strategy (2007). Articles>Web Design>Writing>Content Strategy
#34748
Content-based sales means using high-quality content to generate traffic, which you then use to earn money (but not necessarily on the web-site).
Content Strategy (2007). Articles>Web Design>Writing>Marketing
#34905
リンクの最初の11文字がどれだけ理解されるかをテストすれば、そのサイトがユーザのために書かれたかものかどうかがわかる。ユーザというのはリストの項目を全部読む、というよりは、流し読みをするものだからだ。
Nielsen, Jakob. Usability.gr.jp (2009). (Japanese) Articles>Web Design>Writing>Usability
#35159
Twenty-Five Clear And Beautiful Comparison Tables
There's no point in having an awesome website and an awesome product if your product comparison table is crap. It will throw people right off, and believe me I have seen some bad tables. Anyway here is a collection of the best product comparison tables handpicked by WebdesignDev. We think we have picked the top 25 comparison tables based on creative design and how clear it is to read and compare.
Johnson, Andy. Web Design Tutorials (2009). Articles>Web Design>Technical Writing
#35321
Breaking Up Large Documents for the Web - Part 2
One page or separate pages? When faced with that decision, ask yourself these questions: How much do people want in one visit? How connected is the information? Am I overloading my site visitors? How long is the web page? What’s the download time? Will people want to print? How much will they want to print?
Redish, Janice C. 'Ginny'. User Interface Engineering (2009). Articles>Web Design>Information Design>Writing
