March 2012
1 post
So long, farewell
When I am reviewing websites and intranets I occasionally come across huge monolithic web pages that descend 12 screen depths and more. It’s very likely that I am not the only reader that will abandon this page and move on.
It raises a question in my mind about the management of the content on the website. Why does this happen and how can it be avoided?
Lengthy pages not only present...
February 2012
4 posts
3 tags
Jack and Jill’s capers
I worked for a number of years as an editor publishing material to 40 countries, extensively using professional language translators. I am increasingly becoming concerned at the use of machine translations by large organisations without warning of the inherent dangers of relying on such material.About 15 years ago I was trying to brush up my French and learn German because my company was about to...
3 tags
How international are you?
Restricting your writing to subset of the English vocabulary can help the communication process when addressing an international audience. I used to edit a printed publication that was circulated to 40 countries, and have had more recent experience working with the UN. I admire the Scandinavians who use English as a ‘middle language’ to communicate with others in Europe. I was in Norway last year...
1 tag
Anything else I can tempt you with?
Have you noticed that once you have bought something from eBay or Amazon and as you exit from their website they try and tempt you with another purchase perhaps related to what you have just bought?
And have you ever considered using this idea on your own web publications? Here are some ideas. It’s a strategy that’s as old as the hills and regularly used by market traders, call...
3 tags
Curators' nightmare
Over the last year we have seen the rapid rise of news aggregation called ‘content curation’. In this item I look at why we should think very carefully before we install and use curation software, and suggest we restrain from adopting this misleading jargon. The immediate mind association for ‘curator’ is a museum employee whose priority is to conserve existing ancient content … as Wikipedia...
January 2012
4 posts
2 tags
What do nuns share with particle physicists?
Over the last 12 years running inhouse web writing training courses I have met some very interesting people in a wide variety of vocations. Some work in fascinating working environments and locations.
Each new audience brings particular challenges as I help them to improve their web pages. But there is one thing that is common to them all and that’s summed up by the word...
4 tags
HTML no longer fit for purpose - an alternative?
HTML has come a long way since its first incarnation by its author Sir Tim Berners-Lee back in 1990. The first generation coding had an elegance and simplicity. But its reworking to meet the demand of publishers now means that it’s not fulfilling the needs of the majority of its users. Perhaps returning to an idea that the inventor first introduced - an editor / browser and preventing direct...
2 tags
Will iPads largely replace laptops?
There has been a massive rise in the use of tablet computers, especially the iPad, over the last year. Initially they were seen as a clever piece of engineering with limited business application. But now businesses are taking this technology very seriously.
Could we be seeing a wholesale switchover from laptop to tablets from laptops driven by busy executives on the move? And should intranets and...
4 tags
Try this free word difficulty check
Whether you are writing for a UK audience and aiming at the 10-12 year reading age (to match tabloid newspaper levels) - or you want to use simpler English for an international audience, then the following free word check will be invaluable. I admire the Scandinavians and the Swiss especially who use English as a ‘middle language’ to communicate with other language speakers in Europe. I was in...
December 2011
5 posts
Beware the social media agency con
Social media agencies promise the world but do they actually deliver? ‘Get return on investment from your social media’ and ‘we offer advice about the most suitable social media tools and technologies for your business’. Just a couple of website claims from UK agencies. Social media consultancy needs an intimate knowledge of the relevant channels for the industry/sector/location concerned. For...
3 tags
High tech high street?
Mary Portas published her report last week to “put the heart back into the centre of our High Streets”. She makes 28 imaginative and wide-ranging recommendations. But her suggestions largely overlook new technology as being part of the solution.
More ‘shops’ than ever before
She writes “new technological developments now mean that the Internet is one of the key threats to...
3 tags
One voice - the impossible dream
Training thousands of staff to write in a company style on an intranet and to follow verbal branding guidelines to the letter is not going to achieve the desired end result.
To implement verbal branding and apply a consistent ‘tone of voice’ onto printed material and websites is achievable. This can be carried out by good writers, professional communicators or external agencies. But...
3 tags
Do only half your readers understand you?
If you are writing for your staff in a work environment or for the general public at large you must be prepared to adapt the way you communicate. A report from a Commons Public Accounts Committee in 2006 revealed that 12 million adults in the UK have literacy skills equivalent to an 11 year-old or younger.
A number equivalent to half the UK workforce.
The charity Mencap defines half of these...
Complex numbering has to go!
When I am training government departments one of the problems I encounter is a reluctance to abandon the complex numbering. This practice has been used for decades to subdivide and index material. You know the sort of thing: section 106.34 subsection 1.2 and so on. But we know from eye-tracking research that the web reader scans the left two or three words down the left hand side of a page, and...
November 2011
4 posts
Emerging from the fog?
Greater efficiencies can result through clearer communications with our audiences - both internally and externally. By creating well written ‘self-help’ website and intranet content organisations are recognising that it’s possible to cut the workload for front line staff, resulting in huge financial savings.
I have worked with many government organisations over 11 years. In that time I...
iPad can cut mobile data costs by half
With the growing popularity of the iPad are we seeing a fundamental shift in the way business people on the move are accessing intranet and website data? By using a tablet PC and shrewdly shopping around we can cut data access costs by half.
Back in the 1980s no self-respecting “yuppie” would be seen dead in the City without their leather bound personal organiser wallets, that we all know by the...
6 tags
No go logo?
How important is displaying a corporate logo or intranet branding on every page of your site? Malcolm Davison argues that wasting space could be detrimental to the organisation and that there are other ways of getting the visual identity across. Take a trip around a typical large company office space. Most people are feverishly working on word processing, spreadsheets or other proprietary...
Off with their heads!
Why is it that most intranets and websites are lumbered with top-heavy designs that waste up to 40% of the screen area and limit the amount of content that can be viewed? With users increasingly accessing material with smaller screens this is becoming a matter for serious concern. Deep intrusive web page headings, navigation and graphics often result in the first readable line of text on a...
October 2011
5 posts
4 tags
Teamwork replaces ‘master of none’
I started out in communications more years than I care to recall. In those days, the boss of the department would usually have worked their way through the ranks. They would have become reasonably competent in all the various aspects: PR, literature production, exhibitions, direct mail and advertising. But with the high tech multi-channel world of communications today it’s impossible to be...
2 tags
Gun manufacturer and an awkward case
Two weeks ago I came face-to-face with my public enemy number one - the first typewriter.
Taking a break from training in Edinburgh I popped into the National Museum of Scotland, recently opened after a £47 million refurbishment. It’s well worth a visit - adults and kids were clearly loving it.
On display was the first typewriter to be manufactured that enabled writing faster than by hand. The...
5 tags
Writing that never sees the light of day
Why would a writer spend hours crafting brilliant copy when nobody ever clicks on the relevant link to read it? Frankly they might as well have stayed at home - their writing input has made no useful contribution to their organisation.
So what are the likely causes?
Wording. When I write an ad for Google Adwords I trial several versions. One may be four times more effective than another. The...
Design criminals
There are two things that really annoy me. Design that compromises the readability of text – and poor writing that doesn’t do justice to a brilliant layout.
You see layouts where clearly the designer feels that text is an annoying intrusion into an otherwise good design. They see text as annoying areas of grey lines that unfortunately have to be there. So, to minimise the visual impact,...
3 tags
Relaunch to oblivion
How many websites have you seen that have been worse following a relaunch? It’s usually caused by an outside agency winning a pitch for the redesign. The client has believed the oversold credentials of their supplier and when presented with the new look have presumed that their website is now the newest and best in their marketplace. The kings new clothes comes to mind! As a trainer teaching...
September 2011
5 posts
3 tags
Designed to look good?
Would the painter Constable have been happy if he knew that his masterpieces might one day be viewed on a magic box called a TV. And that we could stretch his work of art from 4:3 to 14:9 to zoom to wide? Probably not. But some web designers do something similar when they use ‘liquid text design’. They allow you to grab the browser window to adjust its width and the text content reflows to the new...
8 tags
Hats off to HATs!
Recent developments in HAT software herald an exciting possibility to add much needed versatility to today’s CMS systems. In future we may be able to manage content for publication to nearly all our different publication channels all from a single program.
A Help Authoring Tool or ‘HAT’ is software used by technical writers to create online help systems. When you are stuck using...
4 tags
More computer know-how is needed
I often joke that I am so old that I started using computers when they ran on steam. Thanks to coal-fired power stations supplying the electricity, of course, many of us still do!
Take a look at the photo, I programmed one of these - an IBM 360. They were room-size, cost as much as a medium-sized passenger jet, with less power than my mobile phone. No screens in those days, they communicated...
4 tags
Is your web agency up to speed?
With some notable exceptions, the sad truth is that many agencies just don’t keep up to speed with technology. I find that when I am training large clients and recognise that the webwork is poor, it is the now enlightened clients that then have to tell their agencies how to put the website right. The tail has to wag the dog.
There are several factors causing this. Good techy staff are a...
4 tags
Too politically correct?
There is a London estate agent, Roy Brooks, that became a national institution in the 1960s and carved a marketing niche for itself through its outrageous, and very funny, property descriptions. For me their ads were a ‘must read’ every week. Here is an example: “Do not be misled by the trim exterior of this modest period res’ with its dirty broken windows; all is not well...