© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. 1 Chapter 13 Designing Pages and Documents Technical Communication, 12 th Edition John M. Lannon Laura Gurak

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. 2 Page Design Page design is critical because  Technical documents rarely get readers’ undivided attention.  People read work-related documents only because they have to.  Readers are attracted by documents that appear inviting and accessible.

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. 3 Design Skills Needed  Desktop publishing  Electronic publishing  Using style sheets and style guides

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. 4 Shaping the Page  Use the right paper and ink.  Use consistent page numbers, headers, and footers.  Use a grid.  Use adequate white space.  Provide ample and appropriate margins.  Keep line length reasonable.  Keep line spacing consistent.  Tailor each paragraph to its purpose.  Make lists for easy reading.

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. 5 Using Typography Effectively  Select appropriate fonts.  Use type sizes that are easy to read.  Use full caps sparingly.

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. 6 Highlighting for Emphasis Highlighting options include:  Fonts  Type sizes  White space  Other graphic devices

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. 7 Use Headings for Access and Orientation Good headings have the following characteristics: Appropriate phrasing Specific and comprehensive wording Grammatical consistency Visual consistency Appropriate layout

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. 8 A Good Format for Headings

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. 9 Audience Considerations  If users will use your document for reference only  If users will follow a sequence of steps  If users will need to evaluate something  If users will need a warning  If users have asked for a one-page report  If users will face complex information  If users will be from a wide range of cultures

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. 10 Designing Web Pages  Provide margins so that text won’t drift off the edge of the screen.  Links can provide visual cues and guide readers to new information.  Regular word-processing software offers features that let you save documents as Web pages. This works well for simple Web pages; use Web design tools for more sophisticated projects.

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. 11 Other types of On- Screen Documents These days, you can’t predict the types of media that will be used to deliver your documents. Some popular types include:  Online help  Adobe Acrobat and PDF Files  CDs and other Media

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. 12 Any Questions? For additional help reviewing this chapter, please visit the Companion Website for your text at