1. W R I T I N G F O R T H E W E B
I N G O V E R N M E N T A N D E D U C A T I O N

2. H O W P E O P L E R E A D
O N L I N E

3. S K I M M I N G A N D S A T I S F I C I N G
• F Patterns
• Headings and links
• Images and captions
• Bold phrases

4. F P A T T E R N S
Source: Nielsen Norman Group, F-shaped Pattern
for Reading Web Content, April 2006

5. M O B I L E S C R E E N S I Z E S
[ F I N D P E W S T A T S O N M O B I L E U S A G E ]

6. 91%
of all Americans own a cell phone
Source: Pew Research, Cell Internet Use 2013

7. 34%
of cell phone internet users
mostly use their phones
to access the internet
Source: Pew Research, Cell Internet Use 2013

8. 4 years
proportion of cell owners who
use their phone to go online has doubled
(2009-2013)
Source: Pew Research, Cell Internet Use 2013

9. O T H E R W A Y S O F R E A D I N G A N D
N A V I G A T I N G
• Screen readers
• Keyboard controls

10. S C R E E N R E A D E R S
• Software that reads screens to the blind
• Reads everything aloud, in order
• Can read only headings
• Can read only links – out of context

11. S C R E E N R E A D E R D E M O
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PMuBQ7LyOw&t=5m1
0s

12. I M A G E S
• Images must have a text alternative
• Captions are optional
• Alt text
• Describe the image for the visually impaired
• How it looks, not who/what it is
• Captions
• Identify people and places
• Credit the photographer (when necessary)

13. A L T T E X T
A dark-colored beetle with
bright yellow stripes and red-
brown legs perches on a
plant with spindly yellow
flowers
The Locust Borer is a pest
affecting the black locust
tree. Both are common in
Eastern North America.
(Photo courtesy of
WikiMedia)
C A P T I O N

14. T R A N S C R I P T S
• Audio: for the hearing impaired
• Video: for the visually impaired
• Required for accessibility
• Also helpful for search engines

15. T A B L E S
• Provide a summary of the table’s highlights or trends

16. P D F S
• Text PDFs vs. scanned images
• Can you select the text?
• Document Properties
• Title
• Author
• Summary
• Does this document need to be a PDF?
• Probably yes / Probably no

17. P D F T I T L E S

18. E D I T I N G P D F T I T L E S

19. E D I T I N G P D F T I T L E S

20. A C C E S S I B I L I T Y I S S U E S
• Structure vs. presentation
• Alt text
• Transcripts
• Link text
• Keywords
• URLs

21. S E A R C H E N G I N E O P T I M I Z A T I O N
• Structure vs. presentation
• Alt text
• Transcripts
• Link text
• Keywords
• URLs

22. A C C E S S I B I L I T Y & S E O
C H E C K L I S T
• Are headings styled as headings?
• Do all images have alt text?
• Do audio & video have transcripts?
• Do graphs, charts, and tables have summaries?
• Do image map regions have alt text?

23. W R I T I N G F O R T H E W E B

24. H E A D I N G S
• Page title and subheadings
• Keywords
• Questions!
• Heading styles, not bigger and bolder
Source: Usability.gov, Writing for the Web, June 2014

25. G O O D H E A D I N G S
• Verb phrases:
• Filling out the Application
• Sentences:
• You Must Get a Permit
• Phrases with pronouns and verbs:
• What You Must Do First
• Where do I get a permit?
Source: plainlanguage.gov, Headings, by Ginny Redish

26. G O O D H E A D I N G S
“How to” buries the action
• How to get a permit
• How to fill out the permit
• How to change your
address
• Getting a permit
• Filling out the permit
• Changing your address
Source: plainlanguage.gov, Headings, by Ginny Redish

27. S T Y L I N G H E A D I N G S
• Use Word heading styles
• Don’t make headings bolder and bigger
• Heading styles become HTML heading tags
• Structure conveys meaning
• Search engines
• Screen readers
• Appearance is meaningless

28. W O R D H E A D I N G
S T Y L E S
N O
Y E S

29. C H U N K I N G
• Subheadings
• Prioritize
• Bullet lists

30. C H U N K I N G E X A M P L E :
H I S T O R Y O F T E X A S A & M F O R E S T
S E R V I C E
• By subject
• Establishment and early leaders
• State forests
• Urban forestry program
• Fire protection program
• Seedling nurseries
• By date

31. P A R A G R A P H L I S T S
The objectives of the Texas Forest Service were to
persuade and aid private owners of forest land in
practicing forestry and converting submarginal agricultural
lands to productive forests; to protect private forest lands
against forest wildfires, insects, and disease; to inform the
public of the contribution that forests, a renewable natural
resource, make to the economy of the state; to educate
Texans in uses and abuses of forest products; and to
assist forest products industries in developing new
products and improving production techniques.

32. B U L L E T L I S T S
•The objectives of the Texas Forest Service were:
• to aid private landowners in practicing forestry and converting
submarginal agricultural lands to productive forests
• to protect private forests against wildfires, insects, and
disease
• to inform the public how forests contribute to the state’s
economy
• to educate Texans in uses and abuses of forest products
• to help industries develop new products and improve
production techniques

33. O M I T N E E D L E S S
W O R D S
“ C U T T E X T B Y H A L F ,
T H E N B Y H A L F A G A I N . ”

34. E X A M P L E
Like the term “weeds”, insect
pests should be reserved for
those insects causing
unreasonable problems to the
products we are trying to
produce.

35. U N N E C E S S A R Y ? R E D U N D A N T ?
Like the term “weeds”, insect
pests should be reserved for
those insects causing
unreasonable problems to the
products we are trying to
produce.

36. R E P H R A S E
Like “weeds,” the term “pests”
should be reserved for insects
causing unreasonable
problems.
Source: plainlanguage.gov, Wordiness Made Spare

37. P L A I N L A N G U A G E V S .
B U R E A U C R A C Y
“Online readers expect a personal, upbeat tone in web
writing.
They find bureaucratic writing so offensive and out-of-
place that they simply ignore the message it's trying to
convey.”
Source: New York University, Writing for the Web

38. P L A I N L A N G U A G E I N
G O V E R N M E N T
• Plain Writing Act of 2010
• PlainLanguage.gov
• Usability.gov
• Center for Plain Language

39. E L I M I N A T E J A R G O N
• Arcane industry terms
• Acronyms
• Abbreviations
• Euphemisms

40. T H E O F F I C E O F N A T I O N A L
S T A T I S T I C S
Statistician: Each Geographical Statistical Output (GSO)
depicts an enumeration district.
Manager: Do you mean ‘each map’?
Statistician: No. We cannot call it a map because each GSO
also contains a table.
Manager: OK. It's a map with a table.
Source: plainlanguage.gov, Keep it Jargon-free, by Nick Wright

41. “I soon realized solving
Bosnia would be easier.”
-- George Robertson, English Defence Minister, on his
attempt to cut out abbreviations and acronyms at the
Ministry of Defence
Source: plainlanguage.gov, Keep it Jargon-free, by Nick Wright

42. E U P H E M I S M S A N D J A R G O N
Jargon Plain
Reduction in force Layoffs
Economic downturn Recession
Friendly fire Shot our own troops
Involuntary undomiciled Homeless
Riverine avifauna River birds
Sources: plainlanguage.gov, Keep it Jargon-free and
Avoid legal, foreign, and technical jargon

43. G O O G L E S E A R C H E S P E R
M O N T H
40,000
“Low fares”
Source: Gerry McGovern, Choosing the Right Classification Words, October 2008
25
million
“Cheap flights”

44. T O N E
• Active voice
• Avoid passive verbs (it was done by…)
• Take responsibility
• Invite the reader to take action
• Personal address
• Talk to a person, not an abstract group
• The reader IS the audience
• Be relevant
Source: plainlanguage.gov, Pronouns Can Establish a Personal Tone

45. A C T I V E V O I C E
Before:
The Texas Forest Service was established by the legislature.
After:
The legislature established the Texas Forest Service.

46. P E R S O N A L A D D R E S S
Before:
This article will help students improve their study habits.
After:
Learn to study more effectively.

47. L I N K S
• Descriptive
• What will the reader find when she gets there?
• Unique
• Starts with a keyword
• File type and size warnings (PDF, 200MB)
Source: Nielsen Norman Group, Writing Links, March 2014.

48. N E V E R W R I T E “ C L I C K H E R E ”
• What is the destination?
• The method doesn’t matter
• And it might not be “clicking” anyway
• Tapping mobile screens
• Keyboard navigation
• Puff sticks and joysticks
• Voice recognition

49. W H A T S C R E E N R E A D E R U S E R S
H E A R
•Click here
•Click here
•Click here
•Click here
•Click here
•Click here
•Click here

52. D O N ’ T L I N K T O N O N E X I S T E N T
P A G E S

53. N E V E R U N D E R L I N E N O N - L I N K E D
T E X T

54. 3 W A Y S T O I N S E R T L I N K S I N
W O R D
1. Control-K
2. Insert -> Hyperlink
3. Select phrase, right click, “hyperlink”

55. K E Y W O R D S
• How would people search for this page?
• “how do I…?” is common
• Jargon AND vernacular
• “low fares” and “cheap flights”
• Two- to four-word phrases are best

56. U R L S
http://tfs.tamu.edu/main/article.aspx?id=13944
http://tfs.tamu.edu/request-assistance-with-forest-recovery-
after-wildfire
/foresthealth/
/foresthealth/insects/

57. S U M M A R Y

58. W R I T I N G A G O O D W E B P A G E
• Identify and address the audience
• Chunk the text by topic or task
• Cut half the words
• Eliminate jargon
• Write task-based headings and descriptive links
• Add alt text and captions to images
• Summarize tables and charts
• Include keywords in the URL

59. T O O L S
• Style Guide and Page Template
• PlainLanguage.gov Quick Tips
• Plain language checklists
• Center for Plain Language checklist
• PlainLanguage.gov checklist
• Accessibility checklist