Letting Go Of The Words

Writing For The Web

How do users read on the web?

They dont. They skim and scan.

On the average Web page, users have time

to read at most 28% of the words during an
average visit (Nielsen, 2008).

EXERCISE 2: SEARCH
BEHAVIOR

Go to your favorite search engine.

Search for an answer to one or more of
the following questions.
1. Who won the gold, silver, and bronze
medals in the decathlon at the 1912
Olympics?
2. Where in the Ukraine is Halychyna?
3. What is the origin of the Akbash dog and
what were they bred for?
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Getting rid of the words:

Reduces the visual noise level of a web page.
Makes useful content more prominent.
Shortens web pages.

6 Guidelines
For Focusing
Your Message

I. Give people what they want

1. Think about the web page topic from your site visitors point of view.
2. List questions your visitor might ask.
3. Decide which question your visitor will ask first. Prioritize a list of typical
questions until they are in a logical order.
4. Answer the questions without the fluff. If you already have a draft of a previous
page use it as a source to answer questions.
5. Do your visitors care about anything else?
6. Read the new draft. Does it flow logically?
7. Discard what you have not used.
8. Do not change text that is mandated or constrained by organizational, state, or
federal requirements.
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II. Cut, cut, cut, cut again

1. Focus on facts.
2. Do not talk about the organization on every page unless the visitor needs the
information.
3. Put your draft away for a day or two. Then read the text and look for additional
areas to cut.
4. Ask a colleague and someone from your audience to read your text out loud.

III. Start with the key point. Write

inverted pyramid style.
1. Create scannable text and allow your
users to grab and go.
2. Highlight keywords.
3. Avoid clever headings that may not be
understood by everyone in your
audience.
4. Bullet lists.
5. Include one idea per paragraph.
6. Divide the word count of conventional
writing in two.
7. Write in the inverted pyramid style.
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Inverted Pyramid
Journalists have long adhered to the
inverse approach to writing: start the
article by telling the reader the
conclusion ("After long debate, the
Assembly voted to increase state
taxes by 10 percent"), follow by the
most important supporting information,
and end by giving the background.
This style is known as the inverted
pyramid for the simple reason that it
turns the traditional pyramid style
around. Inverted-pyramid writing is
useful for newspapers because
readers can stop at any time and will
still get the most important parts of the
article (Nielsen, 2008).

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12

Inverted Pyramid
1.
2.
3.

Catch their attention with a good title or heading.

Begin with a summary of the most important information first the who,
what, when, why and how.
Link the first paragraph to the second by referencing a subject, word, or
synonym.

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IV. Break down walls of words

1. Keep paragraphs short.
2. Use bulleted lists.
3. Use white space to break
up the page.
4. Break text into small
chunks.
5. Use lots of headings.
6. Turn sentences into more
visual forms such as lists
and tables.
7. Always add space around
photographs and graphics.
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V. Market by giving useful information

1. On the web there isnt the same room for nonfactual text as there is in a brochure or
advertising flyer.
2. Web users are goal oriented and do not want to
be distracted by information that is not relevant
to their quest.
3. The web is primarily a pull technology while
marketing specializes in push.
4. What is your web page selling?
5. Help visitors find what they want.
6. Give visitors what they want.
7. Help them through the process effectively and
efficiently.

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VI. Layer for different needs

Layering is the way you divide information
to keep users from being overwhelmed by
too much at once (Redish, 2007).

3 Ways to Layer
Link a brief description to a full article.
Entice visitors with a little bit of information
and provide a pathway to more information.
Link an information page to other web
pages.
Link part of the page to a short explanation
in a pop up window that can then be closed
by the user.
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How to Irritate You Visitors

1. Use lots of acronyms without stating the full text.
2. Be wordy and try to be funny.
3. Use jargon that confuses non-native speakers.
4. USE ALL CAPS FOR FULL PARAGRAPHS OF TEXT
5. Center text.
6. Tell your users to click here

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How to improve readability on the

web
1. Spell out acronyms right away with
formatting.
2. Omit needless words
3. DONT OVER CAPITALIZE
4. Use picture captions.
5. Place embedded links in the text to help
visitors find more information.
6. Dont center text.
7. Chunk text and use white space to break
up walls of text.

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Written for print. Layout not engaging online.

Killer Whale- Orca
The orca is a stout, streamlined animal. It has a round head that is tapered, with an indistinct beak and straight mouth line. The orca has a striking
color pattern made up of well-defined areas of shiny black and cream or white. The dorsal is black, with a pale white to gray "saddle" behind the dorsal
fin. It has an oval, white eye patch behind and above each eye. Each whale can be individually identified by its markings and by the shape of its saddle
patch and dorsal fin. Males can grow as large as 32 feet (9.6 m) long and weigh 8 to 9 tons. Females can reach 23 feet (8.2 m) in length and weigh up
to 4 tons. Whales make their home wherever they happen to be in their aquatic environment, unlike terrestrial mammals which live in a den or nest. In
killer whales it is a social bond that binds families together in their aquatic environment. Killer whale pods are matriarchal, meaning that sons and
daughters stay with their mother throughout their lives, even after they have offspring of their own. These family units in the resident community are
known as matrilines. A pod is a larger unit that is made up of one or more matrilines that travel together and may be related. A clan is a group of pods
that share similar calls or dialects, indicating that they share a common ancestry and are more closely related to each other than to whales in other
clans. These bonds remain strong between siblings even after the mother has died. Transient killer whales do not have as structured a social system
as residents and individuals may leave their mother to travel alone or with other whales. There is a clear link between the calls that killer whales make
and who they mate with. The more similar the dialects of two groups, the more related they are. Killer whales tend to mate with partners that don't
sound like themselves. Transient and resident killer whales represent distinct lineages with little or no exchange of individuals or interbreeding. The
differences are so great that they have likely been isolated genetically for many thousands of years. Northern and southern resident killer whales are
more closely related but haven't interbred for at least hundreds of generations. Researchers are also able to use DNA to determine whether a killer
whale is a male or female. Sound is very important to animals living in aquatic environments as the visibility is often very poor underwater. Killer whales
use sound to navigate, locate prey and communicate with each other. Researchers have discovered a lot about family relationships of killer whales by
listening to the sounds they make. Acoustic research has revealed a great deal of information about the social relationships in resident killer whale
populations. Whales communicate with one another through a wide variety of whistles, squeaks and whines. Canadian researchers have discovered
that in resident pods, each whale has the same set of calls, or dialect, as other pod members. The only other mammals known to have true dialects
are humans, some monkeys, and the sperm whale. Groups of whales that share the same "dialect" are related to each other. Pods of whales with
related dialects are called clans.
Source: American Cetacean Society and British Columbia Wild Killer Whale Adoption Program

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Headings help users scan efficiently

Killer Whale- Orca
Description
The orca is a stout, streamlined animal. It has a round head that is tapered, with an indistinct beak and straight mouth line. The orca
has a striking color pattern made up of well-defined areas of shiny black and cream or white. The dorsal is black, with a pale white
to gray "saddle" behind the dorsal fin. It has an oval, white eye patch behind and above each eye. Each whale can be individually
identified by its markings and by the shape of its saddle patch and dorsal fin. Males can grow as large as 32 feet (9.6 m) long and
weigh 8 to 9 tons. Females can reach 23 feet (8.2 m) in length and weigh up to 4 tons.

Social Organization
Whales make their home wherever they happen to be in their aquatic environment, unlike terrestrial mammals which live in a den or
nest. In killer whales it is a social bond that binds families together in their aquatic environment. Killer whale pods are matriarchal,
meaning that sons and daughters stay with their mother throughout their lives, even after they have offspring of their own. These
family units in the resident community are known as matrilines. A pod is a larger unit that is made up of one or more matrilines that
travel together and may be related. A clan is a group of pods that share similar calls or dialects, indicating that they share a common
ancestry and are more closely related to each other than to whales in other clans. These bonds remain strong between siblings
even after the mother has died. Transient killer whales do not have as structured a social system as residents and individuals may
leave their mother to travel alone or with other whales.

Genetics
There is a clear link between the calls that killer whales make and who they mate with. The more similar the dialects of two groups,
the more related they are. Killer whales tend to mate with partners that don't sound like themselves. Transient and resident killer
whales represent distinct lineages with little or no exchange of individuals or interbreeding. The differences are so great that they
have likely been isolated genetically for many thousands of years. Northern and southern resident killer whales are more closely
related but haven't interbred for at least hundreds of generations. Researchers are also able to use DNA to determine whether a
killer whale is a male or female.

Communication
Sound is very important to animals living in aquatic environments as the visibility is often very poor underwater. Killer whales use
sound to navigate, locate prey and communicate with each other. Researchers have discovered a lot about family relationships of
killer whales by listening to the sounds they make. Acoustic research has revealed a great deal of information about the social
relationships in resident killer whale populations. Whales communicate with one another through a wide variety of whistles, squeaks
and whines. Canadian researchers have discovered that in resident pods, each whale has the same set of calls, or dialect, as other
pod members. The only other mammals known to have true dialects are humans, some monkeys, and the sperm whale. Groups of
whales that share the same "dialect" are related to each other. Pods of whales with related dialects are called clans. (British
Columbia Wild Killer Whale Adoption Program)

20

Omission of unnecessary text

and the addition of bullets
improves readability

21

Killer Whale- Orca

Description
The orca is a stout, streamlined animal with a round head that is tapered, with an indistinct beak and straight mouth line.
Striking color pattern made up of well-defined areas of shiny black and cream or white.
Black dorsal, pale white to gray "saddle" behind the dorsal fin.
Oval, white eye patch behind and above each eye.
Males can grow as large as 32 feet (9.6 m) long and weigh 8 to 9 tons.
Females can reach 23 feet (8.2 m) in length and weigh up to 4 tons.

Social Organization
Whales make their home wherever they happen to be in their aquatic environment, unlike terrestrial mammals which live in a den or nest.
Killer whales make social bonds that binds families together.
Matriarchal, meaning that sons and daughters stay with their mother throughout their lives, even after they have offspring of their own.
Live in family units or residents known as matrilines.
A pod is a larger unit that is made up of one or more matrilines.
A clan is a group of pods that share similar calls or dialects, indicating that they share a common ancestry.
Bonds remain strong between siblings even after the mother has died.
Transient killer whales may leave their mother to travel alone or with other whales.

Genetics
There is a clear link between the calls that killer whales make and who they mate with.
The more similar the dialects of two groups, the more related they are.
Killer whales tend to mate with partners that don't sound like themselves.
Transient and resident killer whales represent distinct lineages with little or no exchange of individuals or interbreeding.
Northern and southern resident killer whales are more closely related but haven't interbred for at least hundreds of generations.
Researchers use DNA to determine the gender of a whale.

Communication
Sound is very important to whales living in aquatic environments.
Use sound to navigate, locate prey and communicate.
Communicate with whistles, squeaks and whines.
Have the same set of calls, or dialect, as other pod members.
Groups of whales that share the same "dialect" are related to each other.
Pods of whales with related dialects are called clans.
(British Columbia Wild Killer Whale Adoption Program)

22

Rules are meant to be broken!

23

Resources:
British Columbia Wild Killer Whale Adoption Program. Available online at
http://www.killerwhale.org/index2.html
Information Providers Guide. Available online at
http://ec.europa.eu/ipg/content/tips/index_en.htm
Meadows, D. H. (1999). State of the Village Report.
Nielsen, J. (2008). How little do users read? Available online at www.useit.com
PowerPoint Clip Art and Images.
Redish,J. G. (2007). Letting go of the Words, Writing Web Content that Works
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)

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