How Web Readers Read

by Kaye Vivian

Grazers? Browsers?  Tapas snackers of reading? Yes, that is indeed how readers approach web sites, both internal and external.  U.S.A. Today brought to the forefront our need to recognize the time constraints and distractions in daily business life with its short articles, clever headlines and color, all designed to let us skim and scan for whatever appeals to our personal interests.

It shouldn't come as a surprise then, that visitors to your web pages read the same way.

Facts

Only 16% of readers read a document word for word. Shocked?

According to a web usability study by Sun Microsystems in 1997, 79% merely scan on-screen pages without taking time to read what they find.  It's more than just attention deficit.  Computer screens are about 25% harder to read than print. 

Larger screen type fonts improve readability. Short line lengths help. So does reducing the number of words from print to the on-screen version by about 50%.

To make your web page writing more effective, try some of these tips:

1. Don't assume that the reader got to a particular page by following a particular path. Hyperlinks make it possible to enter any page from just about any starting point. The reader may never have seen your home page and may know only what's on that page.
2. Make each page stand alone. If it's the only page on your site a reader sees, it should be self-explanatory and easy to move on from.
3. A lighter, less formal writing style is appropriate. Light humor is a welcome touch, but be careful of clever or cute headings or metaphors that don't translate across geographic distances or cultures. Readers tend to take you literally. Try writing like you speak.
4. Use an inverted pyramid style of writing on every page.  The reader should see from the first screen of information what is on that page and whether they want to read further.
5. Consider carefully before turning a lengthy article into a series of linked pages with ``More" and a ``turn the page" graphic at the bottom.  Know your audience. Many readers still like to print out articles, and loading multiple pages in order to print them can be annoying and waste time.

Remember that users come to web sites for information.  Help them to hunt and peck to find what they are looking for easily, and the chances are your web site will be considered successful.

PS

Sun has published the findings from its study in a 12 page pamphlet titled Writing for The Web: A Quick Reference. You can see a summary of the study on Jakob Nielsen's web site at http://www.useit.com/papers/webwriting.
Copyright 1998 by Kaye Vivian (kvivian@cloud9.net).