Lost for Words - adult literacy in Australia
We look at a series that shows what it's like to struggle with the written word.
- Topics:
- Writing content
Articles
Our articles cover a range of topics on writing for the web. Accessibility is a common focus because not a lot is written on the topic from a writer’s point of view.
Accessible images and your social media posts
Find out how you can make your social media images accessible to ALL your followers.
- Topics:
- Accessibility
Update on new content standards
Two new standards are set to improve the quality of digital content. Are you ready to meet these standards?
- Topics:
- Writing content
Plain language is not just plain words
Many equate plain language with plain words. While plain words are important, plain language is much more than this.
- Topics:
- Writing content
WCAG 2.1 summary for web writers
This summary is for web content managers, editors and writers. It's limited to level A and AA guidelines relevant to content production.
- Topics:
- Accessibility
Are you swapping PDF for Word?
Have you been advised to replace PDF documents with Word, because Word is more accessible?
- Topics:
- Accessibility
Accessible content for social media
Do you know how to make your social media posts accessible? In this article, we discuss ways to reduce accessibility barriers when writing posts, sharing links, and posting images and video.
- Topics:
- Accessibility
- Social media
Writing content for responsive design
If you're writing for the web, you're writing for responsive design. In this article, we offer some tips to get your content working well on a range of screen sizes and orientations.
- Topics:
- Content design
- Writing content
Long descriptions for images - part 2
Long descriptions are text alternatives for complex or detailed images. In this article we look at some examples: charts and graphs, maps and plans, infographics, diagrams and technical drawings.
- Topics:
- Accessibility
Long descriptions for images - part 1
In this article, we look at the role of long descriptions for images. Why you need them and how to implement them.
- Topics:
- Accessibility
2 useful tools for web writers
Here are 2 free tools that are simple to use. They'll help you write better content for your organisation's website, intranet or blog.
- Topics:
- Accessibility
- Findability
- Writing content
3 diseases that infect web content
Want clean, healthy web content? Protect it from 3 common diseases.
- Topics:
- Writing content
Relying on PDF online? 6 reasons to stop
6 reasons that explain the cost of of locking up content in PDFs
- Topics:
- Content strategy
When is an image 'purely decorative'?
Accessibility guidelines require us to let assistive technologies ignore 'purely decorative' images. Sounds simple enough, but sometimes it's hard to decide when an image is purely decorative. In this article we argue that blank text alternatives are often best.
- Topics:
- Accessibility
Clean up your web content with these handy household products
Would you believe that washing machines can help you clean up your content? They can. Not literally, of course. But metaphorically, they're a great help.
- Topics:
- Content design
Managing distributed publishing - 9 solutions
Some common problems arise when organisations use a distributed publishing model for their website or intranet. In this article, we outline 9 ways you can start managing these problems.
- Topics:
- Content strategy
- Governance
- Workflow
Managing distributed publishing - 8 challenges
Distributed publishing can pose significant challenges that affect the quality of your content. In this article, we look at eight of these challenges.
- Topics:
- Content strategy
- Governance
Reducing reliance on PDF documents online
Some organisations publish large amounts of their online content as PDF documents. But PDF is rarely chosen because it's been assessed as the best format for the content. In this article we discuss ways to reduce reliance on PDF.
- Topics:
- Accessibility
- Content strategy
Better science writing for the web
Scientists who write content for their organisation's websites might resist advice to write in plain language. Some find it hard to avoid 'scientese'. This article shows advice from science journal style guides to encourage scientists to write more readable science for the web.
- Topics:
- Writing content
User story cards for web writers
User story cards can help you identify your users and their tasks. They're an easy way to do a little planning to help guide your writing.
- Topics:
- Planning
Beyond the content audit
If you want quality online content, you need to do more than a content audit. You need to understand the people, process and cultural issues that resulted in poor content.
- Topics:
- Content strategy
5 tips for writing better microcontent
Microcontent is small-scale content often acting as a label for content that isn’t visible on the screen. It needs to work hard to communicate and connect with users. We discuss 5 tips to get your microcontent into good shape.
- Topics:
- Findability
Text alternatives for images with captions
We need a text alternative for informative or functional images. But what should we do when the image also needs a caption? In this article we discuss the options.
- Topics:
- Accessibility
A-Z of better web writing
If you want to write better web content, here's an A-Z that should help. It covers attributes of quality content and other issues web writers should be aware of.
3 idioms reveal the truth about university websites
After working on Australian university websites for 18 years, I saw the same problems over and over. Three simple idioms capture them well.
- Topics:
- Content strategy
- Governance
Print to web: 10 tips for repurposing documents
If your organisation still takes a print or document-first approach to content, here are some tips to help you repurpose content for the web.
- Topics:
- Content strategy
Don't let your CMS wreck your content - part 2
A CMS can create problems for your content if you let it generate file names or text alternatives for images. This article discusses system behaviour to watch out for.
- Topics:
- Accessibility
- Findability
Don't let your CMS wreck your content - part 1
Content management systems (CMS) make publishing and managing web content easier. But some systems have limiting features, or are set up in ways that aren't helpful. In this article, we look at page titles and CMS behaviour to watch out for.
- Topics:
- Content strategy
- Findability
Writing for the web versus print
Good writing is good writing, regardless of the medium. So what makes writing for the web different to writing for print? In this article, we discuss one key difference — technical knowledge.
- Topics:
- Accessibility
- Findability
7 Cs of quality web content
If you want to write better content for your website, intranet or blog, aim for these 7 qualities. They're based on the classic '7 Cs of communication', reworked for communicating online.
- Topics:
- Writing content
