Simple Web Design Steps to Improve Your Website's Readability
Websites that make their customers work to read them are not the best way to get business. Miniscule fonts, text in colours that make it hard to see against the background colour, and lines that are piled on top of each other are problems, but they're easy to correct. Let's jump right in and look at five easy fixes:
Format your text using CSS.
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) are the way to go - use one style sheet and control how text looks on your entire site. Make a change to the style sheet and your whole site is updated. It makes life a lot simpler
Make the font size big enough to read
Consider your target audience. Even if they are a group of teenage girls looking for new shoes, it's never a good idea to use tiny type. It doesn't have to be enormous, but up to a point, larger type is better. 12-pt Verdana is better than 8-pt Verdana.
Make the text contrast with its background.
The more contrast, the better. Black-on-white or white-on-black are examples of the highest contrast you can get. Use colours if you like, but if you squint at the page and your text basically vanishes, there's not enough contrast.
Give the lines room to breathe.
Don't stack lines on top of each other. Use the line-spacing directive in CSS and give it some space; I'll often set line-spacing to 140% of the height of a typical line.
Break text up into chunks.
No matter how good a writer you are, people don't want to read endless pages of text. Break it up by using headlines that reflect the subject of the paragraph(s) to follow so people can scan down to the parts that really interest them, or use bulleted lists to change the pace of the writing and slow down the scanning.
And finally (not one of the 5 Easy Ways to Improve Legibility but still quite important) check your spelling. Nothing irritates me more on a web page than spelling errors - it simply makes you look like you don't care enough to get it right. Use that ubiquitous spell-check tool.
Making your website's content more legible is easy. It doesn't take a lot of time, mainly common sense. The payoff will be text that's more readable, customers that stick around long enough to get your message, and improved credibility with your visitors.
Copyright 2007, Mark Webster 007 Bond Gift James Set
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Format your text using CSS.
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) are the way to go - use one style sheet and control how text looks on your entire site. Make a change to the style sheet and your whole site is updated. It makes life a lot simpler
Make the font size big enough to read
Consider your target audience. Even if they are a group of teenage girls looking for new shoes, it's never a good idea to use tiny type. It doesn't have to be enormous, but up to a point, larger type is better. 12-pt Verdana is better than 8-pt Verdana.
Make the text contrast with its background.
The more contrast, the better. Black-on-white or white-on-black are examples of the highest contrast you can get. Use colours if you like, but if you squint at the page and your text basically vanishes, there's not enough contrast.
Give the lines room to breathe.
Don't stack lines on top of each other. Use the line-spacing directive in CSS and give it some space; I'll often set line-spacing to 140% of the height of a typical line.
Break text up into chunks.
No matter how good a writer you are, people don't want to read endless pages of text. Break it up by using headlines that reflect the subject of the paragraph(s) to follow so people can scan down to the parts that really interest them, or use bulleted lists to change the pace of the writing and slow down the scanning.
And finally (not one of the 5 Easy Ways to Improve Legibility but still quite important) check your spelling. Nothing irritates me more on a web page than spelling errors - it simply makes you look like you don't care enough to get it right. Use that ubiquitous spell-check tool.
Making your website's content more legible is easy. It doesn't take a lot of time, mainly common sense. The payoff will be text that's more readable, customers that stick around long enough to get your message, and improved credibility with your visitors.
Copyright 2007, Mark Webster 007 Bond Gift James Set
2 Soundtrack Waynes World
1 Cartoon Political War World
Wayne County Career Center
Girl Hair Style Teen
Cursor Cute Icon Myspace
Restaurant In Cherry Hill New Jersey
Chaise Haute Bebe
11 Cafe Del Mar
Ak Flower Order Wedding
Allergic Bakin Delicious Dessert Egg Egg Family Food Free From Heart Kitchen Recipe Without
Motorola V220
Crm Peoplesoft Resume
Live Radio Slager
Parking For Gatwick
0 Ford
Article Fitness Health Magazine
Super Sport Bike Magazine
Wholesale Party Supply And Favor
Center Crosley Entertainment Musician
Life38
Real34
Banks With Poor Credit Personal Loan
Airfare Business Business Business Cheap Class Class Class Economy Flight Flight Ticket
Thigh High Fur Boot
Minneapolis New Homes
007 Everything Or Nothing Walkthrough
Body Image Questionnaire
Free Reverse Phone Directory For Unlisted Numbers
Charity Directory
Bar Chip Chocolate Oatmeal
Dancing Star Winner
Jesus Action Figures
Consolidation Counseling Credit Debt Delaware
Play Station Game Cd Burns
Real6
Dance Praise
Maine Fsbo
02 Pay As You Go
In Mexico New Retire
Building Contractor Railings Supply
Abc Glasses Safety
02 Wap Settings
Crib Mtv Scarface
Caravelle Resort Myrtle Beach
Recent Ufo Sightings
4a Texas Football
05 Mustang Accessories
1 Christmas Level Popular Song
California Day Resort Spa
Betty Chip Chocolate Cookie Crocker
Belgian Chocolate Wholesaler
Case Ipod Shuffle
Shelter Care Pet Insurance
La Philadelphia Restaurant Viola
China Pattern Sango
Inkjet T Shirtransfer
1 800 Coupon Discount Flower
Rosary Maker
1223 Night Club Washington Dc
Banks In Salt Lake City
1 Thailand Trip
1 2 3 Go
Canada Northern Pike Fishing
Menopause And Adult Acne
Nfl Sports Collectible
Phone Call
Smoke Inhalation
Molex Distributors
Massage
Machine Skybox Vending
Wiley Publishers
Pegasus Structure Deck
1 Ad Review Supplement
Hatha Yoga Definition
Barack Obama President 2008
Clock Portable Radio
Reports On Lcd Versus Plasma Televisions
Real31
Discount Glasses Oakley Sun
Radio Station Play List
Japanese Karaoke Dvd
Audiovox Speaker
1 A Day Weight Smart
Buford Football Georgia High School
Florida Medicare Supplement Plan
Deco Lamp
Massage
Christ Church Cornerstone Jesus
1 Dispenser Hot Hot Water
Apartment For Rent In Clifton Nj
Colon And Cleanser And Detox
Cheap Flight Barcelona Spain
Travel Agent Magazine
Popular Man Hair Cut
Auto Casualty Cincinnati Company Insurance
Central Park West Rehabilitation Center
Frisco Office Space Virtual
Obituary
03 A70 Camera Canon Digital Powershot
Ariat Boot Closeout
Associated General Contractor Of Texas
Darkness Eyes Red Dragon
Estate In Loan Loan Mortgage Real Refinance Us
Tylers Liver Detox
Citrix Program Neighborhood
Apartment
Clinton Utah
001 001 Cheap Flight Keyword Miva R Vegas
Unwritten Law Your My Angel Lyric
Cpe Depot
