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The Technical Writer
(A division of Lispaul Services Ltd.)
Lee Batchelor
Technical Communications Writer (STC) |
| I edited a genealogy Web site. The goals were to make the site more legible, and conform to XHTML-Transitional standards. To see an original and then updated page, click on the respective picture. |
| Original |
Updated |
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Changes:
- No Document Type Declaration (DTD) in original Web page
Using an incomplete or outdated DTD, or no DTD at all forced the browser into a "quirks" mode, where it treated the old-fashioned, invalid mark-up and code like the non-existent industry norms of the late 1990s. The browser attempted to analyze the pages in backward-compatible fashion, making them look as they would have in earlier browser versions. Clearly, this is not what the client wanted, but it was what he was getting.
- Image size specifications
To improve the page's loading time, the image dimensions (in pixels) were added to the HTML code. Prior to this, the browser had to calculate the dimensions, causing increased loading time.
- Typeface
The previous typeface (font) was not only difficult to read but may not have been available on all client and non-client computers. An industry-wide standard typeface (Verdana) was implemented.
- Page width
The original page width produced body text that was too wide (almost no white space). Large distances between the end of one line and the beginning of the next, caused the reader to lose track of where he or she was, resulting in loss of comprehension, and reader fatigue. To correct the problem, the page was made narrower. |
Changes:
- Color headings
A color scheme was added to the document headings as a way of highlighting them, making it easier to scan the document for specific content.
- Spacing improvements
The space between all headings, and their associated text was made less than the distance between the same heading, and the preceding paragraph. The "connecting" of headings, and associated text increased readability.
- Typeface changes
The original document used the same typeface (font) for headings and text. Headings were replaced with a sans-serif typeface, while body text retained a serif typeface.
- Microsoft Word TM styles applied
Many people still use the Enter and Tab keys to add appropriate spacing to a document. This was appropriate when typewriters were used for producing documents. Today, word processors utilize styles for creating consistent spacing, colors, and typefaces. To maintaining consistency, a custom style set was created. |
Web site designed by Lee Batchelor
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