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Web pages share similarities to individual pages in print
publications, but because Web pages may be accessed directly with no
preamble, Web pages must be more independent than print pages. Too many
Web pages end up as isolated fragments of information, divorced from the
larger context of their parent Web sites through lack of essential links,
and the simpler failure to properly inform the reader of their
contents.
 The best
overall publication guide we know of is an information design classic, the
Xerox Publications Standards manual. The Xerox manual has formed
the basis for countless company and institutional publications standards
manuals. We think the best writing guide is not Strunk and White, but
William Zinsser's On Writing Well. Zinsser's book is better on all
counts, and contains much more practical advice for writing in different
publication formats and for different audiences.
Titles and subtitles
Forget icons, banner graphics,
bullets, horizontal rules, and colored backgrounds. Editorial landmarks
like titles and headers are the fundamental human interface issue in Web
pages, just as they are in any print publication. A consistent approach to
the titling, headlines, and subheads in your documents will aid your
readers in navigating through a complex set of Web pages.
The text styles used in this manual follow suggestions from the
Xerox Publishing Standards:
Headline style
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Bold, capitalizing
the initial letters, for: |
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Document
titles |
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Other
web sites |
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Titles
of documents referred to within the text |
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Proper
names, product names, trade names |
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Downstyle
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Bold, capitalize
first word only, for: |
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Subheads |
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References to
other heading within the style manual |
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Figure
titles |
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Lists |
HTML and page titles
Web page titles are
designated in the HTML document head section with the "TITLE" tag. the
title is crucial, because the page title is often the first thing visible
to users using slow Internet connections, and because the title becomes
the text for any bookmarks the reader makes to your pages. The page title
should:
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Incorporate the
name of your company, organization, or Web site. |
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Form a
concise, plainly worded reminder of the page
contents. |
Always think of what your page title will look like in a long
list of bookmarks. Will your page title remind the reader what was
interesting about your pages?
Style for online documents
Documents to be read
online must be concise and structured for fast scanning. The "inverted
pyramid" style used in journalism works well on Web pages as well. Get the
important facts up near the top of the first paragraph where users can
find them quickly. Assume readers will print anything longer than half a
page rather than read the text online.
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Be
concise |
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Use
lists where possible |
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Make
printing easy |
Longer documents
Many types of documents (like this
manual) are not well suited for the telegraphic style that works well for
documents designed to be read online. Web authors often cut so much out of
Web presentations that what is left would barely fill a print pamphlet.
Concise writing is always better, but don't "dumb down" what you have to
say 
there's enough dumb stuff on the Web already. Just understand that readers
will want to print longer documents. Make printing easy for your readers
and you can use the Web to deliver content without cutting the heart out
of what you have to say.
Text for the Web
Some
general points about text formatting specific to the Web:
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Excessive markup:
Beware
of too
much markup in your paragraphs. Too
many links, or too many styles of typeface
destroy the homogeneous,
even "type color" that characterizes
good typsetting. |
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Link
colors: If you are using custom link colors, choose colors that
closely match your text color. Reading from the screen is hard
enough already without having to deal with screaming orange or
bilious green links. |
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Use the
best tool: Write your text in a good word processing program with
spell-checking and search features. Transfer text to HTML only after
it has been proofread. |
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Style
sheets: Don't use the word processor style sheets to produce "All
capitals" or other formatting effects. You will lose those special
formats when you convert to plain ASCII text for HTML
use. |
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Special
characters: Don't use the "smart quotes" feature. Avoid all special
characters like bullets, ligatures, and typographer's "en" and
"em"
dashes not supported in standard HTML text. Consult a good HTML
guide book for the listing of special and international characters
supported through the HTML extended character
formatting. |
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No auto hyphens: Never use the
automatic hyphenation feature of your word processor on text
destined for the Web. This may add non-standard "optional
hyphen"characters to your text that will not display properly in Web
browsers. |
Links and language
If you are new to the Web it can
sometimes be awkward to figure out where to place links within sentences.
Never construct a sentence around a link phrase such as "click
here for more information." Write the sentence as you normally would,
and place the link anchor on the most relevant word in the
sentence.
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Poor: Click
here for more information on placing links within your
text. |
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Better:
Web links are powerful, but may also cause problems
if they are placed carelessly. |
Parenthetic links
Links are a distraction. It is
pointless to write a paragraph and then fill it full of invitations to
your reader to go elsewhere. Put only the most salient and interesting
links within the main body of your text. Group all minor, illustrative,
parenthetic, or footnote links at the bottom of the document where they
are available but not distracting.
Web references
Several companies have made excellent
style manuals or publications guidelines available on the Web,
including:
Sun Microsystems, Guide to Web Style, by Rick Levine.
The best of a good
group; excellent, self-exemplifying advice for Web design.
Ameritech, Ameritech Web Page User Interface and Design
Guidelines
Apple Computer, Apple Web
Design Guide
Apple Computer, Apple Publications Style Guide
Guide to good practices for WWW authors. Margaret Issacs,
University of Glasgow
Print references
Jordan, L. 1976. The New York Times
manual of style and usage. New York: Times Books.
Strunk, W., and E. B. White. 1979. The elements of style, 3rd
ed. New York: Macmillan.
University of Chicago Press. 1982. The Chicago manual of
style. 13th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Xerox Corporation. 1988. Xerox publishing standards: A manual
of style and design. New York: Xerox Press-Watson Guptill.
Zinsser, W. K. 1990. On writing well., 4th ed. New York:
Harper Collins. |
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