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