January 2011 | Links updated, May 2013What is the content of your message, your product? How do you decide what you're going to say, and how you're going to say it?Offering information alone isn't enough to create change or influence action, as many a systems-change project has learned. Mindfully crafting the content you'll disseminate is crucial to getting the content past the hands of your users and into their minds and actions.This page focuses … [Read more...]
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PDFWriting for the Web
August 2011 Is your website one of your project's most valuable ways of disseminating information? If so, this page will give you 6 tips for writing content that engages and motivates your web visitors---and, most importantly, helps them find the information they're looking for. The tips are: Understand how people read on the web Help readers skim and scan Put the essential message first Chunk your information Use headings and subheadings Write … [Read more...]
Writing for the web
This 41-page guide, Writing for the Web: Helping you Improve your Online Communications, comes from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. It emphasizes writing in plain language, using active voice, organizing for the reader, and helping readers scan your content. (posted May 9, 2013)http://www.cms.gov/About-CMS/Agency-Information/Aboutwebsite/downloads/writingforwebw_oTOV.pdf … [Read more...]
Plain language web writing tips
On the web, people are in a hurry. They skim and scan, looking for fast answers to their questions, so it’s important to get to the point - quickly! Use the 1-page checklist of writing tips to help your readers complete their tasks. The checklist summarizes writing considerations for audience, length, tone, voice, word choice, simplifying, links, organization, scan-ability, separating topics, context, testing and evaluating, and training others. … [Read more...]
