C H A P T E R 2 : W R I T I N G F O R M U LT I M E D I A A N D T H E W E B

WRITING FOR MANY MEDIA

WRITING FOR THE WEB

• Be accurate, check your facts• Keep sentences short• Use the lead sentence to explain clearly what the

text will be about• Use descriptive nouns and verbs• Avoid adjectives and adverbs• Choose each word carefully

USABILITY: WRITE TO BE SCANNED

• Highlight key words• Use headings• Provide bulleted lists• One idea per paragraph• Begin each paragraph with conclusion• Halve the word count

KNOW AND RESPOND TO YOUR USERS

• Define the readers of your portfolio• What are their expectations?• How will you address their expectations?

HOMEPAGE, NAVIGATION AND LINKS

• Describe your site’s purpose clearly and simply on the homepage• Don’t put a lot of prose on the homepage• For long pages, have a clickable list of page

topics at the top of the page• Write glosses to help navigation • Use a consistent click style• Make links in the body of the text descriptive

DISPLAYING INFORMATION

• Present complex data in a table• Keep information for comparison on the same page• Set appropriate page lengths• Place important information higher on the page• Group information consistently• Align items on a page• Use appropriate line lengths, short lines, slow

reader• Limit page information• Group related items

LABEL

• Navigation links should be descriptive

BLOG WRITING TIPS

• Use descriptive title and headings• Write clear, direct short sentences• Get to the point• Tone should be personal• Link to outside sites• Use keywords

WRITING FOR AUDIO

• Write conversationally, the way people talk• Write to be understood on the first listening• Keep it simple• Read all of your work out loud• Write visually

WRITING FOR VIDEO

• Show don’t tell• Have a clear grasp of your subject and the

structure that you will use to portray it• Consider chunking—short clips to develop

interactivity• Provide foreground or summary information

before moving into a scene• Develop characters• Create a dramatic conflict of sorts• Consider cost and time limitations