Web: Lecture 8a

Lecture 8a: Content and Writing for the Web

Content is the reason users come to your site.
Content is more important than format, decoration or production quality.
- A professional appearance can attract users and improve your organization's credibility.
- But the text is usually more important to users than the graphics.

Reading from computer screens is slower (25%) and more difficult than reading print.
The web is interactive. Users like to click frequently, not sit still.
Users hate to scroll. Scrolling is slow and clumsy and takes effort. Advanced users use PageUp and PageDown.
Users scan. Users get the most important information without reading every word.
The Web is full of rubbish! Many pages are filled with useless, poorly written text that the user does not want or need to read.
People don't have time. Busy professionals are overloaded with work and information.

Use short pages to split up long pages.
- Do not merely make page 1, 2, 3, etc. Split content into coherent units.
- Restructure the pieces to make use of the non-linear structure of hypertext.
- Extended examples and other content of secondary importance can become separate pages.
Use short paragraphs to break up long paragraphs.
- Use headings, subheadings, lists and tables.
Emphasize text using boldface, colours, hypertext links, size and position (e.g. enlarged pull quotes).
Prioritize content into primary and secondary importance.
Order by priority.
- The first word(s) should carry the key meaning.
- Use a short summary before a long article.
- Headlines should summarize the content they head.
- Page titles should be brief and different for every page.

All content should directly support the goals of your site. Any that doesn't should be cut.
Be user centered. Provide content that is useful to the user. Help the user solve problems.
- Avoid cheerful, self-praising but useless welcome pages.
Be concrete. Back up your claims with facts.
Keep content accurate and up to date.
Write about the topic. Most users don't care about how the page or site was constructed.

Be brief. Avoid information overload. Write half as much as you would in a printed page.
Be objective. Use neutral language rather than boasting or exaggeration.
Use simple language that your users understand. Avoid or define technical terms.
Proofread. Find and correct all spelling and grammar errors.
- If your web authoring tool can't do this, copy and paste into a word processor.
- Caution: Automatic checks do not catch all errors.
- As in other media, a professional site should employ a copy editor.

The Web has not yet eliminated or reduced printing onto paper.
- Compared to long web pages, printed documents are generally:
  - easier to read, quicker to navigate, more permanent, easier to access.
- Web pages can be hard to find and retrieve again, unavailable, moved, or removed.
Provide printable versions of long documents.
- Serif fonts are better for printed text. Sans serif fonts are better for computer screens.
- Use two columns to reduce paragraph width on paper. Single columns are better for scrolling.
HTML was not designed for high quality precisely formatted printing.
- PDF and PostScript files are commonly used to produce portable, printable documents.
- RTF format is more portable than Word and most other word processing formats.
Pages should be printable on both common paper sizes.
- International A4 is 210 x 297 mm; US Letter is 8.5" x 11".
Maintaining both web and print versions has a high maintenance cost.
- Maintaining two copies of a document takes time and error-prone.
- Choose web-based or print-based unless the document will often be accessed in both ways.

Well-designed interfaces and web sites should be easy to use and not need user manuals.
Some complex user interfaces may need explanation to help users solve problems.
Users only read help information when they really need it.
Give step-by-step instructions on how to do things and provide many examples.
Documentation pages should be searchable.
Be brief. Do not give a lot of conceptual explanation and background.
If there are many unfamiliar terms, hyperlink the terms to a glossary.

Minimize the use of animations.
- Animations, scrolling text and marquees are annoying.
- Only use them if a non-animated image will not perform the same function.
- Use animations that stop or can be stopped (e.g. by clicking on it).
Animations can sometimes perform useful functions:
- Show continuity in transitions e.g. change in state
- Indicate dimensionality in transitions e.g. zooming in/out
- Illustrating change over time e.g. maps showing population density change
- Displaying more than one image in one place in a page e.g. photo or product browser
- Visualizing 3-D structures e.g. rotating molecules and WireFrame models in Java SDK demo applets
- Attracting attention (only if it helps the user, e.g. to focus on some part of the page)

Multimedia on the web is generally too slow and low quality to compete with television and radio.
- Multimedia can work reasonably well on a LAN.
Web-based multimedia is useful in certain cases.
- Promoting film, radio or music; showing movement or a speaker's personality; setting mood; teaching pronunciation; games
Reduce file size and download time.
- Reduce length, size, frames per second and colour depth. Use compression.
Give an idea of the content and a time estimate. Help the user decide if it is worth the wait to download.
- Display video or sound clip length in seconds, and the size of any file over 50 KB.
A smaller media type can substitute or at least give a preview.
- Give thumbnail images or a few still frames of video clips. Give a text transcript of spoken audio.
- For accessibility of video, use captions, text transcriptions and/or text descriptions.

Project 3 and Lab 7 are due Friday. The final project design specification and Lab 8 are due next Friday.
References: Nielsen Ch. 3, Sklar Unit B, Reding & Vodnik G-16, 100 Dos and Don'ts