Readability is the ease with which a reader can understand a written text. Readability plays a significant role while developing web content by increasing comprehension for the reader. When users interact with content on the web, it is important that the written text remains clear and simplistic as possible so that the information can be understood by a wide array of audience. Hence, the more readable web content is, the greater the reach in audience. Readability in web content will ensure users with disabilities, such as users with cognitive disabilities and reading disorders, as well as users with language and cultural differences, understand the information conveyed. When the web content becomes too technical or the language used is too complex, it can become an accessibility barrier to not only users with disabilities or language differences, it can become a problem to all users.
Readability emphasizes how the text is written, organized and visually displayed for maximum reader comprehension.
Written Text
When creating content, the written text is the single most important aspect of a web page. It is what ultimately connects the audience to the website and as such written text should always be easy to understand, at an appropriate reading level and should always be encoded correctly so that all web audience have access to the information.
Written text in web content must always be clear,simplistic and appropriate for the content of the page. Clear and concise written text is critical to ensure a website is comprehensible for all users. When creating clear and simplistic written text, it is important consider the tone and language used to describe and make references in written text; this will ensure the audience remains engaged.
The reading level of the audience must always be considered; when written text is too long or complex, the readability of the page decreases. Finally, the default language of the page should always be defined in web pages. The default language of the webpage is identified by "lang" HTML attribute that is used to provide assistive technologies the language in which the page was built upon. Therefore, the content will be read appropriately. Incorporating this technique will eliminate any language barriers for assistive technology users.
Organization
Content organization helps readers navigate, access, and comprehend web content. To ensure a website is readable for all users, all content should be displayed in sequential order. The most important information of the page should always be at the forefront followed by supplemental information. Moreover, when content is broken into sections, the order of the page should remain consistent. This means, the content must always have appropriate structure and markup so that it can be read correctly.
Visual Display
The visual display of content is also critical to ensure the readability of the page. This means the content color, fonts, spacing and imagery must be thoughtful considered to ensure all content in the page is easy to perceive by users. If the visual look to the text and content organization makes it difficult for users to understand information, the readability of the page is lost. More information regarding the importance of visual display can be found in the Web Accessibility Criteria Color page.
Best Practices for Readability
The best practices for readability include guides on writing text for the web as well as information on how to organize web content.
Writing Text
The following best practices should be used to increase reader comprehension for written text:
When creating written text on the web, the audience must always come first. The following questions must be considered:
Who is the audience?
What may be the audiences knowledge on the web page subject?
What does the audience need to take away from the web page?
These questions will help initiate the development of the webpage that will be user-friendly and capable of meeting the audience's needs.
The reading level of the page ultimately will depend on the audience. However, it is recommended to maintain the reading level of the page as close to the average reading level of the overall population. Generally, secondary education reading level is the recommended approach, however, in the case of higher education, reading level can be slightly above secondary education.
The default language of the page must always match the language of the written text. However, there may be times when the default language and written text may not match, such as with international webpages. In those cases, the language of the target audience should be considered. Typically the default language is automatically encoded in English, however, it should be explicitly assigned to any element with content other than English.
Using an unbiased tone is critical to provide information to the widest audience possible. Phrases such as, “I feel” or “I believe” shows the content has a reader bias. However, interest articles may require this type of language, while tutorials and general information is best presented free of emotions, morals and/or beliefs.
When making references to specific groups of people, consider them as people first. For instance, people with disabilities rather than disabled people. The first example recognizes the person, while the later highlights the disability. Another consideration is acknowledging how the group of people prefer to be identified. Some examples include using Hard of Hearing vs. Hearing Impaired and Learning Differences rather than Learning Disability. An ability-focused mindset supports inclusion efforts and maintains the focus on what a person can do.
Omitting the use of gender labels and pronouns neutralizes written text. The phrasing he/she could assume specific roles on the reader. This could alter how the information is received. Use phrasing such as, “the reader” or “the student” provides a gender-neutral text. Pronouns can detract viewers from reading a text. A common practice is to use the pronoun, “you” in written text. However, information with pronouns could unintentionally place blame and/or point fingers at the reader.
Facts and evidence-based citations strengthen and provide validity to written text. Specifically, articles and journals in the field of education heavily rely on research-based phrasing to base decisions grounded in evidence rather than a guess or assumption. Highlighting peer-reviewed work shows a reader additional thought and consideration was spent during the development process of the information/content.
Phrasing sentences with a positive approach shifts the focus to a “can do” message. For instance, the phrasing, “be productive” encourages affirmation while, “don’t procrastinate” focuses on the negative. Furthermore, consider readability text free of extreme language (never, always, only) which can narrow the focus of the reader and present a hidden bias. Using phrases such as, “consider” or “be mindful” encourages the reader to analyze the content on a deeper level.
Organization
Overall organization helps readers navigate, access, and comprehend web content both technically and visually. Best practices for organization are divided into the following:
Consider the following questions and strategies while initially building/constructing/developing a new web content page:
What is the written text i.e. tutorial (teaching) or article (informing)?
Strategies:
Select proper web layout type
Use proper language to align with the type of information
Use style headings
Split content into sections by category or topic (relevant to content)
Consider the amount of information presented on a single page
Who will be reading the text i.e. colleagues, public, etc.?
