1. Writing for the Web

2. How do people read online?

3. They don’t. -Jakob Nielsen (1997)

4. Most people SCAN pages.

5. “F-Shaped” Pattern When Reading Web Content

6. How so? 1.They pick individual words and points of interest. 2.It is more difficult to read on a computer screen than on paper– on average by 25% percent. 3.But people WILL read online information if it is written well and takes into account the limitation of the medium

7. Are you gonna read this?

8. How to write well for the Web?

9. I. Short sentences and paragraphs

10. 1.Kill the “Blah-Blah text” at the very top of your page. 2.Concise writing- simple and straightforward. 3.Shorter sentences. 4.Shorter paragraphs. 5.Subject-Verb-Object 6.Show numbers as numerals: 3 (not 3), except for very big numbers. 7.Avoid “cute” language or wordplay.

11. II. Headlines, subheads and bolding

12. Headlines 1.Write good headlines. 2.A good headline should be understandable and captures the essence of the article when stand alone. 3. Use plain language. 4.Skip leading articles like “the” or “a” 5.Should be informative and specific.

13. II. Subheads and bolding 1.Use brief, descriptive subheads, around 7 words. 2.Signal a new topic or a new portion of online content. 3.Separate content into different sections. 4.Bold text attracts attention (don’t over use).

14. III. Bullet points and lists

15. 1.When the content involves several important points 2.Or when listing a group of items 3.Bullet points and lists create spacing and breaks that help readers digest information. 4.Lists are scannable, thus making online reading easier. 5.Ordered lists 6.Unordered lists

16. IV. Multimedia

17. 1.Embed the multimedia on the web page. 2.Do not auto-play multimedia. 3.Have a consistent organization for multimedia. (i.e. left-aligned? Centered?) 4.Use one or two lines to describe what the multimedia is about. 5.Use the most compatible format (i.e. Youtube for video). 6.Don’t overuse multimedia and interactive features.