Web Words

Part 4: Words as Visual Clues

a) Titles and Headings, by their size, color, word choice, placement, emphasis, etc., initially offer a visual clue and then a textual clue to users. First and foremost, they must guide the reader both in context and out of context (you cannot control at which point a user may enter your presentation).

Titles and headings also:

• give advance notice of content that follows
• announce a new topic
• reveal relationships
• help the user to focus attention on key elements in the text

In addition, they should be:

• free of jargon
• meaningful to your widest audience

b) Use headings and sub-headings to:-

• break up a block of text
• offer visual clues on where distinct ideas begin and end
• key the user to essential text
• help the user to absorb information
  

c) Differentiate visually and textually between titles, headings, and sub-headings (the user then visually sees where s/he is within a text before s/he begins to read content. Be as consistent as you can in the visual and textual appearance of each category of heading across your site, segment of site, or multimedia presentation.

Part 5: Words as Links