|
Know
your audience
Organisation
of material
Conceive
content in chunks
Text
should be clear and concise
Keep
paragraphs short and to the point
‘Page’
length
Use
headings, sub-headings and lists
Typography
Navigation
Use
abstracts or summaries
Hyperlinks
Make
your document interactive
Security
and privacy
Know
your audience
Think long and hard about who your target audience is. Present your
material in a form and language that makes it accessible and understandable
to this audience. Think of your audience’s requirements: why have
they come to this web site?; what do they need or want to know?; how
can you get them to bookmark the site and come back? And give consideration
to what level of technical expertise, hardware and software levels your
audience is likely to have. If you know that your audience is grossly
non-technical, for example, you will need to keep your design and content
structured to a low common denominator to ensure that it is accessible,
for example, to users with older, low level browsers, probably accessing
the web through slow modem connections.
Organisation
of material is critical
Before beginning the construction of a web site, it is critical to organise
your ideas in a logical fashion so that as content is created, you know
what and how the various hypertext documents will link together, both
to each other as well as to other external hypertext documents. Create
an outline of the site with main sections set up as separate directories
or folders and use a visual aid to assist in this process, producing,
for example, a flat plan map of the site that visually demonstrates
how files link with each other, and where external links go to.
Give thought
at this early stage as to how users will navigate a site. What directories
or indexes need to be present at all times; should the site be set up
using frames or tables to assist in navigation?; can users who enter
from various portals figure out where they are? Effective organisation
of material is essential for any web site to be successful.
Conceive
content in chunks
Hypertext demands the organisation of material in self-contained, non-linear
chunks. Such an approach may require considerable reorganisation of
existing linear material in order to organise it effectively for the
web. Sections should develop single ideas or points – related or
tangential ideas are best highlighted through links, but be careful
about inviting your reader to click elsewhere, especially to external
links, too early.
Remember
that users may access material in any order, so it may be essential
that such sections are able to stand on their own. Sections should not
be overly long – two and a half screens is generally considered
about the maximum – as users find it difficult and tiresome to
access information that requires excessive scrolling.
Text
should be written clearly and concisely
A good hypertext document, like any good document, demands that information
is presented clearly and in a jargon-free manner that is understandable.
The need for clear, concisely written text that avoids long or complex
syntax or complicated vocabulary is even more pressing in a medium where
users scan rather than read word for word, and where it is critical
that information is delivered and accessed quickly. Since the web is
a new medium, it seems that simple, informal language works best rather
than literary or overblown formal styles of writing.
Keep
paragraphs short and to the point
The paragraph remains the unit of composition on the web as on the printed
page, the grammatical container that represents a self-contained thought,
argument or chunk of information. Keep paragraphs short and to the point,
with no more than one main argument per paragraph. Readers are used
to the convention of the indented paragraph, so use indents, as in print,
to separate paragraphs, rather than non-indented breaks with line spaces
or separation of ideas with horizontal rules. Since text is often scanned
rather than read word for word, ideas are best organised from the top
down, with the most important points presented first, and any amplifying
information following.
‘Page’
length
Remember that the length of a web ‘page’ depends on the end
user’s screen size: a page developed and tested on a 17 inch monitor
at 1152 x 870 pixels resolution, for example, will look considerably
different to that same page viewed on a 14 inch monitor at 640 x 480
pixels resolution: the former, quite simply, will display a larger area,
potentially wider and deeper than the smaller monitor. So if you want
to make an immediate impact, ensure that your content will fit on a
single screen window in the browsers that you consider your target audience
will be using (the entry level for new PCs is now 15 inch monitors).
On the other hand, if you have lengthy text or content, then accept
that users will simply have to scroll down to access it. How small can
pages be? If a succinct nugget of information needs to be offered, then
a web page can be just a single paragraph or image. However, always
ensure that the requisite navigational furniture is included on each
page to ensure that visitors can find their way to the other sections
of the site.
Use
headings, sub-headings and lists
As users prefer to scan text in the first instance rather than read
dense chunks of text on-screen, it is important that the main points
of a hypertext document are clearly made to stand out through the use
of hierarchical headings and sub-headings. The use of style sheets can
be one way to assist in organising such headings and sub-headings logically
and consistently. Lists are also effective means to help summarise main
options or points in a hypertext document. If text is lengthy, or broken
into lots of sub-sections, then consider, if appropriate, adding a brief
table of contents at the top of a page, linked to the sub-sections by
anchor tags to help the user find his/her way around (anchors are usually
internal hyperlinks which when clicked take the reader to a particular
section of a document).
Use
typography creatively to change the beat and keep a user’s attention
In order to achieve interesting typographical effects that you know
will be displayed on most user’s browsers, type must be rendered
as non-editable image files. Such files, though adding considerably
to the file size of a document, can be effective in presenting headings
(use of shadowed type, embossed type, etc.), initial drop capital letters,
animated type, navigation buttons, and other such effects. When combined
with javascripts, for example, type can be made to appear to change
colours when a mouse cursor passes over it (by swapping images ‘on
mouseover’).
Typographical
design features such as pulled quotes, a device that glossy magazines
and newspapers often use, can be effective in a web site. Pulled quotes
highlight in larger or bold text a statement that stands out from the
rest of a text and can help to draw attention to the most relevant or
important points.
Help
the user to navigate a site
Use visual clues such as navigation bars and icons to help the users
find their way around a site. Consider using tables or frames in order
to present such navigational information consistently and permanently
on a site, with, for example, links to the main sections of a site on
a top navigation bar, and links to sub-sections within a left-hand column
navigation section. Furthermore, there is a convention that textual
links to a site’s main sections may be offered at the bottom of
each web page in small type. It seems prudent, indeed, to adopt such
a ‘belt-and-braces’ approach where web navigation is concerned,
and at the risk of being repetitive, to offer as many links to main
and other sections from a variety of options as you can. In that way,
you can at least minimise the risk of visitors getting hopelessly lost
within your site.
Use
abstracts or summaries to present lengthy material
If lengthy chunks of text need to be offered, then provide the user
with an abstract or summary. This should be written concisely and to
the point, clearly outlining what to expect in the full article, main
sections and sub-sections, which of course should all be interconnected
through hyperlinks and anchors.
Hyperlinks
add credibility and authority to a hypertext document
Hyperlinks also bring a web document alive and add depth and authority
to a hypertext document. Use them wisely and considerately. Some prefer
that links are gathered together at the end of a hyperdocument rather
like a collection of footnotes in order not to distract from a considered
reading of the text;11 but most web authors feel that a hypertext document
is in essence a structured document that should contain as many coloured
or underlined links as possible to invite the reader to explore more
deeply elsewhere.
Links,
if textual rather than graphic, should be created from significant or
meaningful words and phrases and they ought to be placed within a contextual
framework that helps the user to know where he will be taken (unless
you are offering links serendipitously, inviting the user to go on a
journey of discovery that leads to somewhere not anticipated). Always
consider whether links offered are truly necessary: too many links can
be counterproductive, inviting users to exit your site and visit elsewhere.
Make
your document interactive
Hypertext has the unique capacity for content creator and user to interact
and establish a dialogue. Make use of this powerful feature by including
a guestbook, questionnaire, or at the least by offering an e-mail facility
so that readers can contact you. Getting users to interact positively
is a first step in engaging your visitors to enter into the unique community
that your site represents.
Security
and privacy
It is so easy to publish on the web that it is quite possible unwittingly
to present information or content that, in retrospect, you may not actually
want the world at large to have access to. Therefore, think and think
again before publishing any private or corporate information that is
potentially sensitive. Even when placed behind limited distribution
areas of a web site, robot search engines may be able to regularly search
and index such material.
Also reassure
your readers of their privacy and rights. If you invite them to sign
a guestbook, don’t ever use or pass their names on to third parties
without express written permission.
Editing
and Publishing
Maintenance
|