Because users have to strain to read on-screen text, you need to make life as easy as possible for them. This can be achieved by adopting an appropriate style of writing; by going through what you've written afterwards to cut it down; and by keeping sentences and paragraphs short so that there are plenty of breaks for the reader.
Keep it short
Keep text to the minimum that will get your information across.
- Use a simple, brief style of writing.
- Avoid sidetracks and irrelevancies: if you were going to put something in brackets, it probably isn't necessary at all.
- If only a small minority of users need certain information, link to that rather than including it in the page.
Break text into small focused chunks
Try to keep sentences and paragraphs short. Ideally, each paragraph should get across a clear point, and each sentence should cover one aspect of that point.
This makes text easier to read because:
- White space (gaps between paragraphs) gives the page a distinctive shape and helps the user to keep track of their place.
- Users need to keep less in their mind at once.
Using this kind of structure also helps users to get a single piece of information if they wish, without having to read through the entire page in detail.
Don't rely solely on paragraph text
In many cases, a paragraph of text is not the most efficient way to get information across. Lists of bullet-points are often useful. Diagrams can also help.
These techniques should be used wherever they can help to reduce the amount of text needed. They also add variety to the page.
Cut, then cut some more
Even the best writers need to go back over what they've written to polish it. On the Web, you should concentrate again on reducing the amount of text. You can achieve this by simply rephrasing, or by changing the way the text is used (for example, by converting a complex paragraph into a list of a few bullet points).
Group exercise
Consider a site listing walks in the countryside. Each walk includes a route description, map, etc. and is on its own page.
One walk description might contain the sentence: "This nature walk is two miles in distance and is suitable for everybody except wheelchair users, for whom no access is provided."
In the group, try to rephrase that information more concisely.
One possible improvement to that sentence would be to move it to the top of the page, beneath the title or other information about the walk. It could then read "2 miles. Suitable for all, but no wheelchair access," which is less than half as long.
Another possibility would be to include "distance" and "suitability" as two standard pieces of information for each walk, rather than phrasing them as sentences.
Break these rules
Following these guidelines will probably improve most "information" sites. Obviously they should not be used rigidly; for example, there may be times when a sentence can be far more elegant if it includes a few extra words.
If a site is primarily intended for some other purpose (e.g. entertainment), however, then a different style of writing might be more appropriate.
