Scannability - By Pradeep Ullal

79 % of Web users scan pages; they do not read word-by-word. Design your web document to be scannable.Here are some guidelines to enhance the scannability of your content::

Highlighting words

• To make keywords stand out, use highlighting liberally: Highlight about three times as many words as you would when writing for print.

• Use the tag rather than the tag for keyword highlighting. Since STRONG is usually rendered as boldface, this is typically the best way to highlight words.

• Colored text or colored backgrounds can also be used for highlighting, but don't use blue for words. That color is reserved for hyperlinks. The hyperlinks also stand out by virtue of being colored, so they should be written to do double duty as highlighted keywords.

• Highlight only key information-carrying words. Avoid highlighting entire sentences or long phrases since a scanning eye can only pick up two (or at most three) words at a time. Highlight words that differentiate your page from other pages and words that symbolize what a given paragraph is about (for example, do not highlight the word "Yahoo" when writing for the Yahoo Web site since all the pages are about Yahoo.)

Font Styling

• The tag is usually rendered as italics and can be used to make figure captions or emphasized sentences or phrases stand out. Do not use it for large blocks of text, since italic typefaces are slower to read online.

• Bulleted and numbered lists slow down the scanning eye and can draw attention to important points.

• Each paragraph should contain one main idea; use a second paragraph for a second idea, since users tend to skip any second point as they scan over the paragraph. Start the page with the conclusion as well as a short summary of the remaining contents ("inverted pyramid" style).