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The University’s web presence• To clearly inform prospective students, their
influencers, researchers, potential members of staff, and other stakeholders about the activities of the University of Bradford with the aim of them choosing to study, research, work or engage with the University.
A University website?• We don’t have one website – we have many, so need to make
the journey as easy for users as possible as they won’t know how we are structured or where things ‘live’
• The journey can start anywhere – external home, School home, random page etc
• User oriented not internally structured• Has to be useful and usable
How people ‘use’ websites• People ‘scan’ web pages! – “Am I there yet?”• Aid ‘scannability’ by using correct formatting and
content
Source: Nielsen, Useit.com, http://www.useit.com/alertbox/reading_pattern.html
Why Users ‘Scan’ web pages• Computer screen reading 25% slower
than paper• The web is a ‘user driven’ medium• Information foraging – users want information
quickly– Large, dense paragraphs off-putting – too much
work!
Define a clear purpose for the content1. What is the business goal?2. What action do you want from the user?3. What are you trying to communicate, and who with?4. How will you know when you have achieved the site
objectives?
• If you can’t define a clear purpose - the content is probably not needed
• Demonstrate, don’t preach
Good content – is your content…•It
communicates, gets the message across, has clear call to action
Clear
•Get to the point at the start, use plain English, reduce ‘fluff’
Concise
•Consistent language and style so it’s easier to understand and looks professional
Consistent
Could be improved
http://www.brad.ac.uk/health/dementia/DementiaCareMapping/WorkingwiththeBritishStandardsInstitute/
Good examples
http://www.bradford.ac.uk/study/request-course-information/
Before
http://www.bradford.ac.uk/management/
What’s the best place for the content?• Imagine you’re the user – think where you’d
look for the information• Easy to find, navigable• Information architecture
Avoid duplicate content• Bad for SEO, accessibility and content
management• Put the content in the right place in the first
place• Use links within content to refer back to pages
(50% of clicks normally within content area not navigation) Source: Nielsen useit.com
Tips for writing for the web• Most important information first! ‘Above the fold’• Get to the point and keep it simple• Take time to write a good page title and headings (keyword
rich)• Keep paragraphs and sentences short• Use sub-headings and lists to break up content• Use links within content (half of users navigate using links
within content copy)• Write in Plain English and avoid ‘fluff’ or marketing speak
Avoid• Jargon and slang• Use of italics, underlining, • Dialect • Pompous words and clichés• Justified text• Exclamation marks
Images• Image dimensions• Image placement• Padding, margins and float• Using the media library (include the file type
and file size for all media)
Formatting Content • Headings• Lists• Paragraph length• Text formatting• 3 and 2 column template layouts available
Formatting - Text• Never underline text for emphasis
– Use headings and bold instead– Underlined text is for links only, and is automatic– Bad for usability
• Italics should be seldom used:– Difficult to read on a screen– Use bold to emphasise instead
Headings• Define structure of
webpage• Separate content and
assist ‘scannability’
• Heading 1• Heading 2
• Heading 3• Heading 3
• Heading 2• Heading 3
• Heading 2• Heading 3• Heading 3
Heading 1Main Content Title• Important for Search
Engines!
http://www.bradford.ac.uk/fees-and-financial-support/tuition-fees/
Heading 2Important Sub-heading
Heading 3Less Important Sub-heading
Headings• Important for:
• Accessibility (e.g. screen readers)• Search engine optimisation (SEO)• Separating content • Legibility and scannability• Document structure
After
http://www.bradford.ac.uk/sled/what-we-do/access-widening-participation/awp-reports/
Preview and proof• Always use the ‘Preview’ function in T4• Don’t forget to proof read• Edit, edit and edit again!• Get others to proof read• Think back to the purpose of the content and
the audience – is the content achieving it?
• Manually check that pages are clear and easy to read. Check that large blocks of text are not presented as capitals or italics.
Ongoing content management• Credible websites are up-to-date• Add expiry dates to time sensitive content
• Always add URIs (important for Search engines - SEO)– Lower case with hyphens between words e.g.:
• access-and-widening-participation• what-we-do
Some T4 reminders
www.bradford.ac.uk/sled/what-we-do
Some T4 reminders• Changing page names and URIs affects links (for e.g. forms, thank you
pages). Any previous links to the page will be broken – so avoid changing page names and URIs unless absolutely necessary.
• Use the Review Date, Expiry Date and Publish date functions in the Options section when modifying content (see below).
T4 template training • New web page for guides from web team• For example News & Events see:
– http://www.bradford.ac.uk/marketing-and-communications/web-team/tutorials-and-guides/