1. Scannable Text

  • Paragraphs are short.
  • Text is bulleted, when appropriate.
  • There’s plenty of white space.

2. Clear Links

  • Links are descriptive.
    • Link includes the title of the document, page, site that is linked to, or a short descriptive phrase.
    • Don’t use Click Here.
  • Words are linked, not full URLs.

3. Correct Headings

  • Heading text is concise.
  • Heading text is meaningful.
    • Don’t use headings to format text so it stands out more.
  • Headings follow the hierarchy.
    • Don’t skip levels.
    • Start at Heading 3 in the CMS and Heading 2 in WordPress.

4. Clean Formatting

  • No text is in ALL CAPS.
  • bold and italic are used sparingly.
  • Text is not underlined (which implies a link).

5. Accessible Content

  • Headings follow the hierarchy.
  • Links are clear and descriptive.
  • Images have descriptive alternative text (“alt” attributes).
    • Don’t need to say “Image of”.

Robyn Ness, Usability Specialist, Teaching and Learning (ness.16@osu.edu)
Beth Snapp, Head, Applications Development & Support (snapp.6@osu.edu)
More information with instructions: go.osu.edu/writingfortheweb