Text and layout

When putting textual information online it is important to consider how your students are going to want to read that information and what format is most appropriate for its intended use.

Information intended for on screen reading

Course information, general instructions, descriptions of content and other material that students are likely to read on-screen are most accessible to students if it is a text item directly on the page. You can include HTML tags to improve the formatting of any text item in MyUni.

Readers tend to scan web pages (looking for information that interests them) rather than reading them closely. The writing style and layout of web documents need to take account of this.

Your students will appreciate

• consistent use of navigation, heading styles and colour to indicate themes, topics or concepts throughout the course
• short sentences, and short paragraphs or bullet points, not large blocks of text
• pages that are easy to scan with
  • adequate white space to break up the text
  • short line length – about 10 words
  • a single column of text
  • wide margins
  • few heading levels
• strategic use of images that enhance content, interaction, and navigation and orientation
• a sans serif typeface (such as Arial or Helvetica) for blocks of text

Writer's voice
Students interacting with online study materials are also likely to appreciate a personal tone. Be friendly, but brief and efficient. This is especially important if the online materials are taking the place of face-to-face contact.

What would you prefer to read?

OR

Resources likely to be printed

PDF (Portable Document Format) maintains formatting and can be viewed using free Adobe Reader software on any computer platform. To have documents converted to pdf format use the pdf relay or contact the Helpdesk for MyUni.

Resources that students may wish to edit electronically

If you want students to be able to edit a document then pdf is not suitable. Most students will have access to Microsoft Word, but for students who don't, it is best to make documents available in RTF (rich text format) also. You can save a Microsoft Word document as RTF by using 'Save As' and changing the type option.