Writing for the web needs a blend of technology, creativity and marketing. This course is for people who need to be able to create content for web sites and need to know a little about the technology behind them. It emphasizes thinking about web content from the point of view of the intended reader and creating clear and simple web designs.

Introduction

This course is about how to write for the web. You don't need to be a great author to prepare good web content. You need to consider who the content is for and why. Some tools and techniques will be shown to help.

• Why use Web Standards?
• What is semantic markup?
• What is "quality" web content from the reader or customer's point of view?
• How do you adapt content for web media?
• How is writing for the web different to print?
• How do you make it accessible?

Words to Use on the Web

• Different readers have different needs
• Most referrals from web search engines
• Google is currently the most popular search engine
• Have you the words people will look for?
• One or two words
• Use words and phrases people use
• Find Associated Concepts
• Kartoo
• Find popular words on a web site
• Tag Clouds

Common Web Designs

• Words first, structure second, layout, color, and graphics last.
• Web standards
• XHTML: XHTML Transitional, XHTML Strict, XHTML Basic
• CSS
• Hierarchical - Like a book
• Chronological - Like a Diary
  
• Blogs: Text and pictures
  
• Podcasting: Sound and Video
• Tag Clouds and Databases - Like a Book Index
  

Testing Web Content

• Spell check
• W3C Validation
• Version and Bandwidth: Net Mechanic
• Accessibility Testing
• Watchfire
• TAW
  

The Future of the Web

• Dynamic Web sites
• Maps
  
• Social networking
• MySpace