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Content structure
Text content for web pages generally requires a different structure than that
used in lecture notes or academic papers. It is more difficult to read large amounts
of text on screen, and the usual tendency for the screen viewer is to scan the
screen for ite MS of interest. For this reason, chunking of content, with appropriate
headings and sub-headings, and the use of formatting such as bulleted or numbered
lists, or selective indenting, is necessary.
It is useful to follow a ‘journalistic’ approach to formatting content
— that is, provide a brief overview of the content (maybe in point format),
then successively elaborate the content, providing links to in-depth explorations
of topics, and to documents designed for print. Write as succinctly as possible
for content that you intend to be read on screen.
The advice given in ‘Accessibility in Web Design’ for structuring
of content is good advice for general practice:
http://www.edtec.unsw.edu.au/inter/dload/webmedia/accessibility/content.html.
There is also some information on accessibility of HTML generally:
http://www.edtec.unsw.edu.au/inter/dload/webmedia/accessibility/html.html.
Web usability guru, Jakob Nielsen has produced these resources relating to
writing for the web:
http://www.useit.com/papers/webwriting/.
He recommends using the ‘inverted pyramid’ approach to content structure:
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9606.html,
and has some other tips for writing on the web: http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9703b.html
and how people read on the web: http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9710a.html.
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Content
structure