Web Design Weekly
A weekly newsletter on good Web design
Dear readers,
This is issue 2 of Web Design Weekly. We now have 2 subscribers - let's get more by telling your friends about Web Design Weekly. It would really help if they knew how to make Web sites, however. To subscribe, send a blank email with the subject line reading "Subscribe to Web Design Weekly" to htmltc@myway.com. Thanks!
Another thing - for next week's issue, I will try and write it in HTML. It may come out a bit wierd, so bear with me. Also, by next issue I will have an archive in case you didn't get to read an issue.
This Week's Article:
Writing for the Web
By Chris Collins, Lead Editor, 6/7/04
Writing for the Web is something all Web designers should learn. When writing for the Web, keep things short and simple. Here are some hard facts on the way users react to text written not for the Web:
- Users scan text – they don't read it. This is usually because users simply just don't have time to read the text.
- Users hate large blocks of text. They are hard to scan and are generally paragraphs and paragraphs of fluff.
The key to writing good content for the Web is to leave out the fluff. (For those who don't know what fluff is – it's unnecessary writing that has little or no significance to the main topic.) Make sure users get the good stuff quickly. Otherwise, they'll leave. Another thing – users hate ALL CAPS TEXT. It is hard to scan, and hard to read. Also, try not to underline text, because some users confuse underlined text and links. When publishing your content on the Web, be sure to choose a readable font. Don't choose cursive; it is hard to scan. Even the (usual) default font Times New Roman doesn't have great on – screen readability (it gives good readability on paper, however). Instead, choose something like MS Sans – Serif (the font this is written in), Arial (not Arial Narrow), Verdana, or Helvetica.
Next Week: Making good use of the <title> tags
Alert! Jakob Nielsen has a new Alertbox Web usability column this week. Read it at www.useit.com.
Comments? Questions? Suggestions? Send them to htmltc@myway.com.
To unsubscribe: Send a blank email with the subject line reading "Unsubscribe to Web Design Weekly" to htmltc@myway.com.
To subscribe: Send a blank email with the subject line reading "Subscribe to Web Design Weekly" to htmltc@myway.com.
