measuring web content readability and consistency - terminalfour conference
DESCRIPTION
Readable & consistent web content is critical for universities. We presented this deck as part of TerminalFour's user conference in Boston, Nov 2013. We show an example case study from the University of the Arts London. VisibleThread Clarity Grader was used to identify complex content on highly trafficked parts of the site. Something that normally takes days to identify. It also flags inconsistent brand references in the web copy, so the Clarity Grader reports instantly picked up 'bad' brand names.TRANSCRIPT
Measuring Web ContentReadability & Consistency –
Why it matters for Universities?Fergal McGovern, CEO
A little background
measures:
Clarity &
Consistency
Let’s consider clarity
Copyright Visible Thread 2011 – Confidential and Proprietary
From: http://www.plainlanguage.gov/examples/before_after/index.cfm
‘Clear writing’ seeks to simplify written language; the result is clear and unambiguous communication.
“When the process of freeing a vehicle that has been stuck results in ruts or holes, the operator will fill the rut or hole created by such activity before removing the vehicle from the immediate area.”
OR
“If you make a hole while freeing a stuck vehicle, you must fill the hole before you drive away.”
Plain Writing Act of 2010 (Obama signed on Oct 2010), E.O. 12866 & E.O. 12988
http://www.plainlanguage.gov/plLaw/index.cfm
How do you measure unclear content?
Clarity Measures for 9 Australian Universities
Takeaway: Very Complex content on multiple pages. Level of long & run-on sentences very high. Passive Voice very high. Audience will not read or engage.
A quick example
Nice Graphic Design
The learner registration process will not be deemed to be complete until the appropriate fees have been paid to the Awarding Body.
VS.
To register as a learner, you must pay appropriate fees to the awarding body
…but the text is a little less
nice!
Why measure clarity?
People don’t read on the Web: they scan
− Anything that makes the text more difficult to scan impedes
communication.
People use the Web to find specific information and complete tasks
− People use the web differently than print materials. If visitors can’t
find the information they are looking for, they quickly go elsewhere.
− Complex language puts a greater cognitive burden on your visitors.
Approachable web language builds trust
− If your competitor has web copy that makes them look approachable,
then you will look stuffy in comparison.
What about consistency?
An example challenge
Is the UAL brand consistent in content?
We created a simple dictionary
Scan results across different sections of the site
The inconsistent terms
Takeaway: Inconsistent brand name used. Findability impacted
Actual content
With the aim of attracting a rich variety of contributions from a broad selection of people - from academia, media and practice - and utilise contributions for uploading to a newly established international repository for fashion to be housed at the London College of Fashion, University of Arts of the London.
Key content likely not findable and searchable
Your audience may be confused and may not engage due to a mix of terminology
Your SEO keyword strategy may be diluted
Your content may not align with Brand/Corporate Standards especially for course names and approved/disapproved terms.
Why care about language consistency?
Worried about Clarity or Inconsistency on your site?
Drop by our stand for your free analysis
Clarity Grader is powered by:
Extras
What are prospective ‘customers’ searching for?
Each column is a university website 500 page scan with noun occurrences
This is the list of nouns with frequency
Takeaway: Student missing entirely in 1 site.
Campus missing in 2 sites, information missing in 1.Prospective student will not find the information they need.
Content Planning
Content Creation
Content Review
Post-live Assessment
1. Evaluate editorial quality of online content for:
i. Readability & clarity of language.
ii. Legal & regulatory requirements
iii.Adherence to brand standards.
iv. Consistency of terminology.
v. SEO & Findability.
2. Identify key targets for improvement.
3. Pinpoint the right corrective actions for each web page.
4. Assess the quality of content submitted:
i. Readability & clarity of language.
ii. Legal & regulatory requirements
iii.Adherence to corporate standard.
iv. Consistency of terminology.
v. SEO & Findability.
5. Evaluate the ROI on updated content by:
i. Comparing with other metrics of web performance.
ii. Assessing the quality of work vs. cost of contactors.
6. Plan a new cycle of content improvement.
Using Clarity Grader in your content process
Copyright VisibleThread, 2011.
Average words per sentence: 10.5
Hard Words: 2.9%
FOG Index (readability): 5.5
VS
Average words per sentence: 21.6
Hard Words: 5.11%
FOG Index (readability): 10.7