Writing for the Web A workshop for content providers

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Writing for the WebA workshop for content
providers

• Part 1 0830 1200 hrs.
• Thursday, 16 March 2006
• UNESCO Bangkok, Conference Room A, 5th floor

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Part IIntroductionHow do people use the
web?Adapting your text to the audienceWriting a
headlineCoffee break (15 mins)Writing a
leadWriting and structuring body textWriting a
conclusion
Course Outline
Part II Improving presentation Creating
hyperlinksCoffee break (15 mins)Integrating
visuals, etc.Keeping the web alive Practice
session
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Learning objectives

• To be able to produce texts that are readable,
  clear, accessible, attractive and adapted to the
  Web.
• In particular to be able to adapt the following
  for the web
• "News "Events"
• Project descriptions, outcomes and other
  information

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To be able to

• Adapt to the audience
• Write a headline
• Write a lead ("short description")
• Write and structure the body text
• Write a conclusion
• Create hyperlinks
• Integrate visuals
• Keeping the web alive

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Introduction How people use the Web
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Users scan contents

• 80 of their time, internet users scan the web
  page content rather than reading it word by word

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Users only see part of the page content
First screen
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Many visitors come from search engines

• Provide explicit headlineswith consistent
  keywords

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Example
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The headline five times more read than body text.
The lead looked at by more than 90 of visitors.
Paragraph blocks group ideas
Keywords in bold
Visuals with captions.
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What do users look at most?

• headlines and hyperlinks

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Reading comfort

• Reading on-screen is 25 slower than reading on
  paper.

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Chapter 1 Adapt to the audience
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Rule 1 Adapt to the audience

• Before writing anything, be sure to have answered
  the following questions
• Who is the target audience?
• How will the content be used?
• Then
• Use simple words that everyone easily understands
• Provide only useful information

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Who is UNESCOs target audience?

• Researchers / scientists / academics
• Media / journalists
• Teachers / educators / trainers
• Public managers / government officials
• Development actors (NGOs, UN,)
• Students / young people
• UNESCO internal staff

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For whom is this text written?

• MOST is a UNESCO programme that promotes
  international, comparative and policy-relevant
  research on contemporary social transformations
  and issues of global importance.
• For further informationhttp//www.unesco.org/m
  ost/flyer.htm

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Do we have to remove all jargon?

• As we go deeper into the UNESCO portal, its
  normal to reach more technical documentation that
  contains jargon.
• However, on main pages ? limit jargon where
  possible.

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Provide all useful information
Bad Example
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Provide all useful information
Good Example
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Exercise 1 Adapt this Text to a Large Audience
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Chapter 2 Write a headline
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Rule 2 Write a Headline

• The function of a headline to allow the reader
  to quickly understand whats inside the article.
• Concise (between 4 and 12 words max 100
  characters)
• Explicit (giving the reader a good insight of the
  content)
• Understandable (avoid acronyms or jargon)
• Catchy (if explicit)
• With keywords (useful for search engine
  indexation)
• Self-explanatory (even out of context, i.e. in a
  search engine)
• Whose first words are the most important
• No uppercase

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Long and obscure headlines
IYP2005 UNESCO ICTP SPIE - STO Optics
Teaching Regional Workshop Implementation of
Resolution 1483 on Iraq Koïchiro Matsuura says
UNESCO stands ready to assume fully the special
responsibilities assigned to it by its mandate,
particularly in the fields of education and
culture CBEC, SIUT and UNESCO Joint Conference
and Workshop on Bioethics Education Training and
Professional Development of Teachers and Other
Facilitators for Effective Use of ICTs in
Improving Teaching and Learning
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Short, concise and explicit headlines
Angkor Wat World Heritage site under
threat Equipping remote schools in Bhutan with
ICT New group to promote girls education in
South Asia Why gender in education is
important Sowing Seeds of Peace in the Mekong
River Basin
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Exercise 2 Make the Headline Shorter
The Director-General of UNESCO signs MOU with
Minister of Education of Thailand on the
management of HIV/AIDS in secondary schools in
ThailandOn 14 April, the Director-General of
UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, and Mr Chaturon
Chaisang, Minister of Education of Thailand,
signed, at the UNESCO Paris office, a plan to
enhance the development of leadership skills in
the management of HIV/AIDS in secondary schools
in Thailand.
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Exercise 3 Improve the Headline
Booklet prepared by NIED on "HIV and AIDS
prevention, Education through Art"    A poster
competition has been organized in Namibian
schools (2003) in the framework of the "fight HIV
not those living with it" campaign within the
education sector. The booklet presented here
contains about thirty posters from young
participants.  Author National Institute for
Education Development - Namibia
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Chapter 3 Write a lead
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Rule 3 Write a lead

• The function of a lead to sum up the gist of
  the information contained in the article.
• Limit the lead to one short paragraph
• Be concise (between 30 to 60 words max 400
  characters)
• Follow the five W rule in order to answer all
  essential questions
• No links inside the lead

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The five "Ws and one H

• Basic questions required in order to provide the
  necessary information
• Who
• What
• When
• Where
• Why
• How

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The lead contains all five "W"
UNESCO signs agreement with Thailand on managing
HIV/AIDS in schools On 14 April 2005, UNESCOs
Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura and Mr
Chaturon Chaisang, Minister of Education of
Thailand, signed a project plan for enhancing the
development of leadership skills in the
management of HIV/AIDS in secondary schools in
Thailand.
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Limit the lead to only one paragraph
BEFORE
AFTER
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Exercise 4Whats wrong with this lead?
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Exercise 5 Make the Lead Shorter!
Fight against Racism, Discrimination and
Xenophobia The fight against racism,
discrimination, xenophobia and intolerance is at
the heart of UNESCO's mandate. UNESCO, through
research, contributes to identifying effective
responses to the obstacles hampering the full
exercise of human rights extreme nationalism,
ideologies of intolerance and new forms of
discrimination arising from technological and
scientific progress. UNESCO directs its efforts
towards drafting international instruments that
outlined standard principles, concepts and
universal criteria to support the fight against
racism and discrimination. To further advance the
fight against racism and discrimination, UNESCO
also launched various operational programs and
projects.
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Chapter 4 Write and structure the body text
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Rule 4 Write the body text

• The function of the body text is to explain
  things, to develop reasoning, to provide some
  examples and to emphasize some details.
• Apply the inverted pyramid rule
• Use short sentences (15 to 20 words)
• Use simple vocabulary and style (avoid passive
  voice, long phrases, acronyms and jargon)
• Divide information into paragraphs
• Limit each paragraph to just one idea, ideally
  found in the first sentence.
• Put keywords in bold and use bulleted lists
  (without exaggeration)
• Limit the volume of each page (between 500 and
  4000 characters)

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Structure your content following the inverted
pyramid
Lead contains most of the 5 W
Interesting facts and colourful details are
found in the body text
Least important information is found here, at the
bottom of the story
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What not to do!
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This is an improvement!
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Exercise 6 Apply inverted pyramid rule
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Limit page length
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Readability and legibility

• Readability is the measure of how easily your
  text can be read and understood.
• Legibility indicates that the text can be read,
  that the letters and words can be recognized.
  This relates to font size and type.
• Source http//agcomwww.tamu.edu
• To boost your content impact
• Use simple vocabulary and style
• Improve the layout

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Exercise 7 Simplify the Writing Style
The CATIA programme decided to adopt the MMTK
format for all its training materials, where
appropriate, with the objective of facilitating
sharing, taking into consideration the local
trainers who need workshop-ready, mix and match,
open acces materials that can be used and adapted
in an effortless manner.
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Improvements

• 1 sentence ? 2 sentences
• Acronyms ? explained
• Spelling mistakes ? corrected
• Style ? strongly simplified
• Passive voice ? active voice
• Paraphrasing, wordiness, superfluous phrasing ?
  removed

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Chapter 5 Write a conclusion
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Rule 5 How to write a conclusion

• The function of the conclusion to leave your
  readers satisfied or to allow them to get more
  information.
• Offer "read more" or "see also" hyperlinks
• Propose interactivity (contact the programme
  manager, subscribe to updates, attend a forum,
  send suggestions, share experience,)
• Impart a sense of future action

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Exercise 8 Rewrite this Conclusion
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Thank you for your attention!