Writing content for everyone
This is from UK’s Government Digital Service (GDS) builds platforms, products and services that help deliver a simple, joined-up and personalised experience of government to everyone.
Most of the students I work with fell out of a formal education system early. They face different challenges including dyslexia, poor vision and previously undiagnosed learning difficulties.
If a service wasn’t written with them in mind, it’s probably not meeting user needs.
Less is more
- identify the main points in large blocks of text
- concentrate on reading for long periods of time
- retain the information they’re reading as they read it
- only including content that meets a specific user need
- organising information into manageable chunks
- using bullet points to break up long lists
Punctuation can slow people down
- capital letters
- contractions, eg ‘would’ve’
- apostrophes
Be direct
- there’s no room for subtle implications
- If someone has to do something to use a service, you can’t hint at it, you have to tell them quickly and clearly.
- Using phrases like ‘you must’ can help users understand when there’s a step they have to follow.
Source: Writing content for everyone