Writing for the Web: a user experience approach

Do you write or edit content for your organisation's website (intranet, Internet, blog) or social media? We'll show you how to create content that works well for online audiences.
A user experience approach
You'll learn how to produce content that provides a better experience for your users. We'll cover creating content that is:
Useful—meets the needs of users
Usable—written and designed for use online
Accessible—reduces the barriers for people with disabilities.
How we teach writing for the web… Show more
We teach the workshop by:
Presenting each topic, using examples and video as required
Reviewing the topic by asking you to comment on pages we select from Australian government, corporate and not-for-profit websites
Doing an exercise (some in groups, some individual)
Reviewing the exercise.
Facilitator
Dey Alexander is a web content specialist with over 17 years experience on a range of web projects. She's watched hundreds of usability tests and seen the problems that poor content creates. She reads widely and monitors research on web content usability and accessibility. Dey will share her experiences and research findings to give you a good sense of what does and doesn't work well online.
Notes and resources
To help you apply what you learn at the workshop, you'll get:
Printed workshop notes (around 100 pages) with references to further reading
Writing tips and templates
Access to our online resources
Agenda and timetable
Time Length Description
8.30 am
30 mins
Arrival tea and coffee
9.00 am
30 mins
Introduction: The 3 C's of content Group discussion of the characteristics, characters and challenges involved in creating online content. We break into groups for this warm-up activity and discuss issues that set the agenda for the rest of the session.
9.30 am
30 mins
Users' online reading behaviour We will look at how people read online, reviewing the latest research and discussing how this should affect the way we design content.
10.00 am
30 mins
Useful We look at two key ways of ensuring we publish content that is useful: planning (for content authors) and content strategy (for content managers).
10.30 am
15 mins
Morning tea
10.45 am
60 mins
Findable Write content to make it easier to find, re-find and share on social media networks. We'll discuss what writers need to know about search engines and users' search behaviour. We'll focus on important search ranking factors such as the page title and keyword research.
11.45 pm
60 mins
Scannable Structure and design content to make it easier to scan-read. We'll discuss order, grouping, headings, paragraphs, lists, tables, graphics and links.
12.45 pm
45 mins
Lunch
1.30 pm
45 mins
Readable Write content that's easier to read. We'll cover choice of words, sentence length, use of active/passive voice, nominalised verbs and personal pronouns. We'll discuss the evidence that shows the benefits of writing in a plainer style.
2.15 pm
45 mins
Concise Write concisely by removing unnecessary content and words. We'll show you how to include all the detail needed with fewer words.
3.00 pm
15 mins
Afternoon tea
3.15 pm
45 mins
Accessible Make content more accessible for people with disabilities. We'll provide an overview of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 and focus on text alternatives for images.
Comments from our participants in 2011
Practical, no nonsense approach
Great course. Clear, concise and very engaging
Incredibly useful. Everyone writing for the web should know this stuff
Covered exactly what I was looking for and was pitched at the right level
The trainer was very well-informed, personable and great to work with
Very thought-provoking and great use of real examples
Loved the exercises

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