Writing for the Web

Abstract

This chapter discusses the common problems with writing for web and how to avoid them. Text conveys the content of a Web site and helps to reinforce the brand through its tone and style. Text needs to be written to support the user's tasks and goals, and to suit the intended audience. For the writer, the audience and goals are known from the results of a requirements analysis, and the tasks are defined from a task analysis. The text can then be written around these tasks and goals. For text to communicate effectively it must be comprehensible. Readability refers to how much sense the words and sentences make to readers, how clear the vocabulary and grammar is. To present highly legible text, use large, easy-to-read fonts and high contrast. Visual limitations such as nearsightedness are extremely common, and illegible text can cause eyestrain as well as make a site completely inaccessible to a large segment of the population. In too many Web sites, writing is an afterthought, if it's considered at all. This leads to beautifully designed frameworks that say nothing. The opposite problem is to write several pages of dense paragraphs. However, readers aren't mindless sponges—they won't sit passively and absorb everything you throw at them.