Writing

An ongoing series of articles about web accessibility issues, tips, tricks, and standards.

The content of a site is something that most website owners neglect to give much thought to, but in my opinion it is something that is just as important as the design of the site itself. Good prose not only makes the site more pleasurable to read (making people come back), but it also helps people with ADHD, those reading from a mobile device, and those who are merely tired.

Use a structure

If there’s a structure to your writing, this allows the reader to skim through the page first to decide whether or not the article is worth reading. So of course, if the reader can’t skim the article easily they might just move on.

Use bullet points and headings

Something else to help skimming the article is using bullet points and headings. This helps the reader get the general gist of the article without having to carefully read the entire page. For example in this article, headings are used which means the reader only needs to read the introduction and the headings to get the general idea.

Get to the point

There’s nothing more dull than somebody going off on a tangent; especially if it’s a boring one. Try and stick to the point as much as you can (unless, of course, the point of your writing is to be a free-for-all rant), that way you’re less likely to lose your readers.

Use simple language (WCAG2 3.1.5)

People shouldn’t need to have a dictionary to hand whenever they visit your site. Try not to use over-complicated language, using simple words rather than obscure ones. This helps those with learning disabilities and younger readers, who may not know what the words mean.

Provide definitions (WCAG2 3.1.3 — 3.1.4)

Whenever using acronyms, abbreviations¹ and technical language, you should always provide a definition for those who do not know what the word or abbreviation means. Thankfully, HTML makes it easy to do this without disrupting your copy with three tags:

Acronyms

Using <acronym title="British Broadcasting Corporation">BBC</acronym>'s iPlayer you are able to watch a previously aired program at any time

Using BBC‘s iPlayer you are able to watch a previously aired program at any time

Abbreviations

<abbr title="Adobe Creative Suite 4">CS4</abbr> is the latest version of the software suite, with many improvements from the previous version

CS4 is the latest version of the software suite, with many improvements from the previous version

Definitions

There are a number of <dfn title="An audio file that can be downloaded to your iPod or other MP3 player">podcasts</dfn> available on the iTunes store that you can download for free

There are a number of podcasts available on the iTunes store that you can download for free

Use good typography

This will be covered in a later article, but using good typography (such as word and line spacing, font selection, and text alignment) will also make your writing easier and quicker to read, with subtle changes making huge improvements.

1. The difference between the two is up to you to debate! [↩]