Writing_web.html

Web-Based Instruction > Putting It Together > Writing for the Web

Writing for the Web

79% of people always scan any new page they come across; only 16% read word-by-word.

Reading is 25% slower on the web than from paper because of screen readibilty.

People can't read fast and don't feel good reading from computer screens.

The problem won't be solved for another 10 years when screens with 300 dpi become common.

Three main guidelines for writing for the web are:

Be succinct: write no more than 50% of the text you would have used in a hardcopy publication.

Write for scannability: don't require users to read long continuous blocks of text.

Use hypertext to split up long information into multiple pages.

For a more scannable text, use:

highlighted keywords (hypertext links serve as one form of highlighting; typeface variations and color are others)
meaningful sub-headings (not "clever" ones)
bulleted lists
one idea per paragraph (users will skip ove any additional ideas if they are not caught by the first few words in the paragraph)
the inverted pyramid style, starting with the conclusion
half the word count (or less) than conventional writing