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Center for Parent Information & Resources

Writing for the Web. Thanks for joining us today. We’re glad you’re here. Center for Parent Information & Resources. NICHCY Legacy Resource to Consult. Understand how people read on the web Help readers skim and scan Put the essential message first Chunk your information

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Center for Parent Information & Resources

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  1. Writing for the Web Thanks for joining us today.We’re glad you’re here. Center for Parent Information & Resources

  2. NICHCY Legacy Resource to Consult • Understand how people read on the web • Help readers skim and scan • Put the essential message first • Chunk your information • Use headings & subheadings • Write in plain language http://www.parentcenterhub.org/repository/webwriting/

  3. How do people read on the Web? They: • skim and scan • look for keywords • sweep what they see in an F stroke • can be gone like lightning They don’t.

  4. Eye-Tracking Studies See the F stroke pattern? Jakob Nielsen http://www.nngroup.com/articles/f-shaped-pattern-reading-web-content/

  5. 80% 69% Eye-Tracking Studies Users spend of their time on the left side of the page Users spend of their time looking above the fold” • Put the most important info first, forget the nice intro • Get to the point immediately • Keep headers & links flush to left margin Implications? Summary at: http://www.parentcenterhub.org/repository/web-reading/

  6. Use The Inverted Pyramid Help your visitors get the pointof the page fast Load the first paragraph with the essential message http://www.s8080blog.com/tag/inverted-pyramid/

  7. Example from Jakob Nielsen http://www.nngroup.com/articles/page-fold-manifesto/

  8. Helping Readers Skim and Scan • Include a table of contents • State the most important info in the first 2 paragraphs • Chunk content in short paragraphs • Put only 1 main idea in a paragraph • Bold headings and subheadings

  9. Example NICHCY in 2008 Today at CPIR

  10. Example State the point of the page right off the bat! Readers can see the contents of the page immediately. http://www.parentcenterhub.org/repository/ei-overview/

  11. Helping Readers Skim and Scan • Front-load headings with keywords • Use bullets, numbered lists, and numerals • Don’t center text on the page • Make your links meaningful • Test your site with a few users Example To see pictures of Skeletar, click here. See pictures of Skeletar. http://www.parentcenterhub.org/repository/web-scanning/

  12. Helping Readers Skim and Scan • Make headers into questionsyour readers askWhere can I have my child evaluated? • Write headers are action statements, using verbsFind Help for Your ChildKnow Your Rights • Consider starting with a keywordCost: Will I have to pay for these services? Tips About Headings

  13. More about the Inverted Pyramid The Lead | Most important point of the page Good leads: • are 1-2 sentences long • use short sentences (30-35 words max) • include information-carrying keywords • help readers see whether the webpage has info relevant to their need or concern

  14. More about the Inverted Pyramid The Body | Here, you support your lead in descendingorder of importance Tips: • Make it easy for visitors to scan the content • Include a table of contents • Divide content into distinct sections • Use headings (in bold) to mark the sections • Use headings rich with content words • Keep individual paragraphs short • Give bulleted lists

  15. More about the Inverted Pyramid The End | Here’s where the least important info goes, what would be “nice” for readers to know Count yourself lucky if visitors read this far. But many will!

  16. Subscribe to Jakob Nielsen's weekly Alertbox newsletter http://www.nngroup.com/articles/subscribe/ Visit his website. Great articles! Top 10 Mistakes in Web Design Designing Teen-Targeted Websites Most Violated Homepage Guidelines Top Homepage Usability Guidelines The State of Mobile User Experience

  17. Questions?Comments?

  18. http://www.parentcenterhub.org/repository/webinar-webwriting/http://www.parentcenterhub.org/repository/webinar-webwriting/ You can find the slides, helpful handouts, and (very soon) the recording of this webinar on the webpage we’ve created for this event.

  19. Thank you very much for attending this webinar. Debra Jennings, Project Director debra@parentcenterhub.org Myriam Alizo, Project Assistant malizo@spannj.org Indira Medina, Communication and Dissemination imedina@fhi360.org Lisa Küpper, Product Development lkupper@fhi360.org Jan Serak, Senior Advisor jserak@wifacets.org

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