To help web writers write better text alternatives for images, we’ve produced this decision tree. It asks three key questions.
Continue reading “Text alternatives for images: a decision tree” »
Articles
Text alternatives for images: accessibility for web writers, part 2
Whenever you use an image on a web page, you need to provide a text alternative—a text version of the information or function provided by the image—except when the image is purely decorative. Text alternatives are one of the most basic requirements for accessibility, but also one of the most misunderstood. Many websites have poor text alternatives.
Continue reading “Text alternatives for images: accessibility for web writers, part 2” »
Introduction: accessibility for web writers, part 1
Some web writers may not know how much their work can affect accessibility. That needs to change. This is the introduction to a series of articles on accessibility for web writers. I’ll be using the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 as the basis of these articles, since they are the standards Australian websites must meet.
Continue reading “Introduction: accessibility for web writers, part 1” »
Navel-gazing websites will get you nowhere
These videos highlight what happens when organisations are too inward-looking: it soon becomes obvious to your clients that they are not your most important consideration. They get tired of it and leave. This attitude is visible on organisations websites too. When an organisation publishes content to satisfy its own needs rather than meeting users’ needs, the site soon gets filled with useless, unwanted content.
Continue reading “Navel-gazing websites will get you nowhere” »
Content approval: is your process working?
Content management systems have made some aspects of managing web content easier. However, many organisations are still struggling with content approval processes. This article looks at common problems and some solutions.
Continue reading “Content approval: is your process working?” »
Writing text alternatives for maps
When you use maps on your website you need to provide text alternatives. These will help people who have problems accessing information using graphical or interactive maps. This article discusses how to write text alternatives for simple and more complex maps and provides some examples.
Language and the role of the web writer
Some web writers object to plain language, saying their role is to educate users and expand users’ vocabulary. Unless you are working on a dictionary or encyclopedia website, that argument is weak. The main role of a web writer is to communicate a message clearly, and to use a style and form appropriate for the web.
Continue reading “Language and the role of the web writer” »
Don’t use ‘Humpty Dumpty’ words
When organisations use a different meaning for common words their customers are likely to misunderstand them. This is an example from a local government website where the word ‘pergola’ is used in a more restricted sense, as defined by state legislation.
Web content and the burden of time
A key problem with rushing to put content online is that the content is nearly always much longer than it needs to be. It takes time to edit and cut out the words, phrases and sentences that aren’t doing any real work. But publishers often don’t spend that time, and users simply won’t!
The struggle to publish useful content
A common question in my web writing workshops is ‘how do we stop people publishing content we know no one will ever use?’ Most people who raise this problem with me try to deal with it on their own. They try to explain to the would-be publisher why it’s not a good idea to publish information that no one is likely to want. They try to explain that the website is not a filing cabinet, that the more you put on it, the harder it becomes to organise and find things. They plead, cajole and sometimes get frustrated and angry. Sometimes it works. But a lot of the time it doesn’t. It’s tiring and will eventually wear you out.
The 5 Es of content usability
I’ve long been a fan of Whitney Quesenbery’s 5 Es of usability: effective, efficient, engaging, error tolerant and easy to learn. They’re a great way to explain what usability is — to make ‘easy to use’ or ‘user friendly’ more meaningful to clients, designers, developers. I think the 5 Es can also be helpful for understanding content usability. And given the state of content on many websites, we can do with a little more understanding! So here’s my version of the 5 Es applied to content.
Don’t make me read (useless words)
If you’ve ever watched people read online, you’ll know they often don’t read closely. Most people scan read a lot of the time. When we ask them why, they tell us they just want the information they need and can’t be bothered with the rest.
Don’t forget the ‘C’ in WCAG – a resolution for the new year
With the likely adoption of WCAG 2.0 (the second version of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) in Australia, organisations might be reviewing their website design and templates to meet the new standards in 2010. What they might forget though, is to check their content or update the skills and knowledge of those who produce it.
Continue reading “Don’t forget the ‘C’ in WCAG – a resolution for the new year” »
The trouble with page titles
Writing good page titles is one of the more challenging aspects of writing for the web. We only have 60–70 characters to work with—characters that are extremely important. The words we use in page titles play a key role in search engine optimisation. Most search engines give them more weight than words elsewhere on the page. And given scan-reading behaviour, well-written page titles are more likely to be noticed by web users in a page of search results. The trouble with page titles is that we don’t give them enough attention.
Getting the planning process right
Yesterday, a participant in my workshop said she felt there was no point planning content for a web page. In her experience, content approvers made so many changes to the content, that it barely resembled the original draft. She felt any work she did to plan a page would just be wasted. Fair point, but is this a good practice? At the very least, it wastes her time. It probably also wastes the time of content approvers. And who knows if this kind of process leads to useful, usable content for their customers? I doubt that it does.
Twitter
Facebook
Delicious
YouTube
Flickr
RSS (Subscribe to our blog)