Text Tips for Your Web Site
Are your pages easy to read?
Opinion page by Duane Alan Hahn.
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Page Table of Contents
Q.How do you make an indented question and answer list without jumping through flaming hoops? I went Googling and found nothing but complicated solutions that usually require plutonium, a background image, and a style sheet.
A.I spent about an hour searching, but I couldn't find anything I wanted to use. Most of the stuff out there was either too complicated or the solution was to use an image. I just wanted to use plain old text and not have to shove even more stuff into my style sheet. I gave up and started experimenting on my own. After playing around for about 10 minutes, I figured out something that should work with the most popular browsers. In other words, it seems to be cross-browser compatible. This doesn't use images or fancy tricks. It uses nothing but normal text and the CSS properties text-indent and position:relative. Below is example code:
<div style="margin-left:40px;">
<p style="text-indent:-22px;"><span style="position:relative; left:-10px; font-size:20px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight:bold;">Q.</span>Question goes here.</p>
<p> </p>
<p style="text-indent:-21px;"><span style="position:relative; left:-10px; font-size:20px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight:bold;">A.</span>Answer goes here.</p>
</div>
If you want to adjust how close Q. and A. are to the text, just change the 10 in left:-10px to a different number. A larger number pushes it farther away from the main text. A smaller number brings it closer. You can also adjust the font size from 20px to anything you want. If you're using a different font or different font size for the main text, you may need to play with the text-indent number to get the first line of text to line up as perfectly as possible with the lines of text below it.
I also use this trick for numbered lists (ordered lists) that need to include things that aren't allowed within <ol> or <li> tags. You just need to add the numbers or letters yourself (they're not automatic). You can see an example of that here:
Atari 2600 Programming for Newbies (Session 21: Sprites)
Here's an example where I use black circles:
More numbers:
I've been to some web sites that have large sections in italics. It's hard on the eyes. It's even harder on the eyes than a serif font. I'm not saying that you should never use italics, just be smart about it. Bold is usually a better choice than italics, since it's so much easier to read (in small doses anyway).
Bad Example
One example of good web design is the pimento shoestring. Elbow knuckle wax is helpful to initiate the puppy banjo flashlight. Peanut butter coyote Christmas is the only time when jawbone pancake jelly is available. At no time is abstract doorknob floss to be used since it could cause morbid granularity.
Good Example
One example of good web design is the pimento shoestring. Elbow knuckle wax is helpful to initiate the puppy banjo flashlight. Peanut butter coyote Christmas is the only time when jawbone pancake jelly is available. At no time is abstract doorknob floss to be used since it could cause morbid granularity.
Similar to italics, only use bold text when you really need it for emphasis. If you use bold text too much, it loses its effectiveness.
Bad Example
One example of good web design is the pimento shoestring. Elbow knuckle wax is helpful to initiate the puppy banjo flashlight. Peanut butter coyote Christmas is the only time when jawbone pancake jelly is available. At no time is abstract doorknob floss to be used since it could cause morbid granularity.
Good Example
One example of good web design is the pimento shoestring. Elbow knuckle wax is helpful to initiate the puppy banjo flashlight. Peanut butter coyote Christmas is the only time when jawbone pancake jelly is available. At no time is abstract doorknob floss to be used since it could cause morbid granularity.
Titles and captions are about the only things that look OK when centered, although many people agree that left-aligned titles are better. The rest of the text should usually be left-aligned because it's easier to read (easier to track with your eyes). And if you have a list of links, please do not center them unless you're trying to give people a throbbing headache on purpose.
Bad Example
One example of good web design
is the pimento shoestring.
Elbow knuckle wax is helpful to initiate
the puppy banjo flashlight.
Peanut butter coyote Christmas is the only time
when jawbone pancake jelly is available.
At no time is abstract doorknob floss to be used
since it could cause morbid granularity.
Good Example
One example of good web design is the pimento shoestring. Elbow knuckle wax is helpful to initiate the puppy banjo flashlight. Peanut butter coyote Christmas is the only time when jawbone pancake jelly is available. At no time is abstract doorknob floss to be used since it could cause morbid granularity.
Why You Should Never Center Align Paragraph Text
You might think that it's cool to have your web pages look just like a newspaper by having a straight edge on both sides of a paragraph, but it can be hard to read. The space between the words is usually inconsistent and that can scare off a lot of visitors. You might want to give up the pretty look if you want visitors to return.
Bad Example
One example of good web design is the pimento shoestring. Elbow knuckle wax is helpful to initiate the puppy banjo flashlight. Peanut butter coyote Christmas is the only time when jawbone pancake jelly is available. At no time is abstract doorknob floss to be used since it could cause morbid granularity.
Good Example
One example of good web design is the pimento shoestring. Elbow knuckle wax is helpful to initiate the puppy banjo flashlight. Peanut butter coyote Christmas is the only time when jawbone pancake jelly is available. At no time is abstract doorknob floss to be used since it could cause morbid granularity.
Using all uppercase letters is a bad idea, even for titles. It's harder to read and your visitors will either think you are yelling or just think that you are lazy. It seems most people hate ALL CAPS, so make your visitors happy. You don't want to go in the opposite direction and use all lowercase letters either. That's almost as hard to read and makes you seem just as lazy. Using regular sentence case for your main text and possibly Title Case for your titles will make just about everyone happy.
Bad Example
ONE EXAMPLE OF GOOD WEB DESIGN IS THE PIMENTO SHOESTRING. ELBOW KNUCKLE WAX IS HELPFUL TO INITIATE THE PUPPY BANJO FLASHLIGHT. Peanut butter coyote Christmas is the only time WHEN JAWBONE PANCAKE JELLY IS AVAILABLE. AT NO TIME IS ABSTRACT DOORKNOB FLOSS TO BE USED SINCE IT COULD CAUSE MORBID GRANULARITY!
Good Example
One example of good web design is the pimento shoestring. Elbow knuckle wax is helpful to initiate the puppy banjo flashlight. Peanut butter coyote Christmas is the only time when jawbone pancake jelly is available. At no time is abstract doorknob floss to be used since it could cause morbid granularity.
Reasons to Avoid Using "ALL CAPS" in Website Copy
Convert to Title Case Free Online Tool
Convert Sentence Case Free Online Tool
One of the first things Internet users learn is that underlined text is a link. If you don't want to annoy and confuse your visitors, don't underline normal text. Use Bold, italics, or another font size before even thinking about underlining normal text.
That also goes for titles and subtitles. Forget what they taught you in school. The Internet has its own rules when it comes to underlining.
Bad Example
One example of good web design is the pimento shoestring. Elbow knuckle wax is helpful to initiate the puppy banjo flashlight. Peanut butter coyote Christmas is the only time when jawbone pancake jelly is available. At no time is abstract doorknob floss to be used since it could cause morbid granularity.
Alternatives to Underlining
One example of good web design is the pimento shoestring. Elbow knuckle wax is helpful to initiate the puppy banjo flashlight. Peanut butter coyote Christmas is the only time when jawbone pancake jelly is available. At no time is abstract doorknob floss to be used since it could cause morbid granularity.
Confusion Caused by Underlined Text on a Web Page
Don't Underline Words if They Are Not Links
I use Verdana for my text which is a sans serif font. A serif font, such as Times New Roman, is hard to read on a computer monitor. If you don't want to give your visitors a headache, use a sans serif font. It's also best to avoid strange fonts that people may not have on their computers. Most visitors don't want to download special fonts just so they can see your pages the way you want.
Bad Example
One example of good web design is the pimento shoestring. Elbow knuckle wax is helpful to initiate the puppy banjo flashlight. Peanut butter coyote Christmas is the only time when jawbone pancake jelly is available. At no time is abstract doorknob floss to be used since it could cause morbid granularity.
Good Example
One example of good web design is the pimento shoestring. Elbow knuckle wax is helpful to initiate the puppy banjo flashlight. Peanut butter coyote Christmas is the only time when jawbone pancake jelly is available. At no time is abstract doorknob floss to be used since it could cause morbid granularity.
Google Search: Avoid Serif Fonts
Google Search: Always Use Sans Serif
Many people hate Comic Sans, mostly because it's as hard to read as italics in large doses. When some people visit a web site that uses Comic Sans as the main text, it screams to them, "Hi! My lame, self-absorbed, 'artistic' expression is more important than your bleeding eyeballs!"
Comic Sans wasn't meant to be used on web sites in place of normal text; it was made for comic/cartoon balloons. If you use it in a limited way, as intended, it's not bad, but using it as your main font will scare away a lot of visitors. They'll think you're an immature little girl or one of those creepy, clueless, needy, icky-sticky people who smell like spoiled food and used kitty litter. If you're on the Internet to make money and you don't want to lose potential customers, avoid Comic Sans.
Some dyslexic people find Comic Sans easier to read. If your web site is only for dyslexic users, you might be able to get away with it, but most everyone else will think you're a creepy crackpot.
Update: I visited a web site in 2015 that used a font called Baumans and it's as hard for me to read as Comic Sans.
Bad Example
One example of good web design is the pimento shoestring. Elbow knuckle wax is helpful to initiate the puppy banjo flashlight. Peanut butter coyote Christmas is the only time when jawbone pancake jelly is available. At no time is abstract doorknob floss to be used since it could cause morbid granularity.
Good Example
One example of good web design is the pimento shoestring. Elbow knuckle wax is helpful to initiate the puppy banjo flashlight. Peanut butter coyote Christmas is the only time when jawbone pancake jelly is available. At no time is abstract doorknob floss to be used since it could cause morbid granularity.
Paragraphs are easier to read when they are separated by blank lines. I have visited hundreds of web sites that have all of the paragraphs smashed together with only a little indentation to separate them. Indented paragraphs are harder to read, even when they're separated by white space. It's best to keep the text to the left and add a blank line between paragraphs to make your pages as easy to read as possible.
Bad Example
One example of good web design is the pimento shoestring. It's the best kind of shoestring to have because it makes waffle clowns easier to invalidate on Wednesdays.
Elbow knuckle wax is helpful to initiate the puppy banjo flashlight. Be sure to jiggle the compensated mainspring when you hear the silence caused by hazardous inactivity. You never want caustic kaleidoscope excretions to build up around your tender protoplasm.
Peanut butter coyote Christmas is the only time when jawbone pancake jelly is available. Most people are tired of frosted squid jelly by then, so it works out. Be aware that some people don't like any kind of jelly on their crusty tugboat sausages.
At no time is abstract doorknob floss to be used since it could cause morbid granularity. That is a common problem for all clients who have eyelid bangles. These dangerous piercings make more noise when people blink than a clumsy robot covered in butter.
Good Example
One example of good web design is the pimento shoestring. It's the best kind of shoestring to have because it makes waffle clowns easier to invalidate on Wednesdays.
Elbow knuckle wax is helpful to initiate the puppy banjo flashlight. Be sure to jiggle the compensated mainspring when you hear the silence caused by hazardous inactivity. You never want caustic kaleidoscope excretions to build up around your tender protoplasm.
Peanut butter coyote Christmas is the only time when jawbone pancake jelly is available. Most people are tired of frosted squid jelly by then, so it works out. Be aware that some people don't like any kind of jelly on their crusty tugboat sausages.
At no time is abstract doorknob floss to be used since it could cause morbid granularity. That is a common problem for all clients who have eyelid bangles. These dangerous piercings make more noise when people blink than a clumsy robot covered in butter.
Google Search: White Space Between Paragraphs
Here's a really short tip. Text should not be right up against the edges of the browser window or touching the side of a box, line, or edges of an image. Padding and margins make a big difference.
Bad Example
One example of good web design is the pimento shoestring. Elbow knuckle wax is helpful to initiate the puppy banjo flashlight. Peanut butter coyote Christmas is the only time when jawbone pancake jelly is available. At no time is abstract doorknob floss to be used since it could cause morbid granularity.
Good Example
One example of good web design is the pimento shoestring. Elbow knuckle wax is helpful to initiate the puppy banjo flashlight. Peanut butter coyote Christmas is the only time when jawbone pancake jelly is available. At no time is abstract doorknob floss to be used since it could cause morbid granularity.
Google Search: White Space Around Images
Some people say that text should stretch to fit any browser window size, but if they knew anything about readability, they would understand that many people have a hard time reading paragraphs that are too wide. A lot of people who have screen resolutions that are higher than 800 x 600 do not want to squeeze down their browser windows until the line length is just right.
Some books and web sites on this subject say that paragraph width should not be more than 65 characters for easier reading. Columns shouldn't be too small either. A column that is three words wide would be just as hard to read. It has been suggested by others that many people have no trouble reading paragraphs that have an extremely wide line length.
Many accessibility proponents are against more than one column on a page because they claim that certain special access software reads pages straight across. If that's true then someone should create better software. It should be able to read logical chunks of text no matter how it's displayed on the page.
Most of the accessibility web sites I have visited are horrible. The line length is stretched too wide, demanding that you must resize your browser window if you want to read their text and some of those sites refuse to have any kind of margins or padding, so the text is right up against the left side of the browser window.
Google Search: Limit Your Line Length
It's best not to use a font below size 2 (10pt or 12px) for your main text. Your main default text size shouldn't be too large either, if you want your pages to look more professional.
Bad Example
One example of good web design is the pimento shoestring. Elbow knuckle wax is helpful to initiate the puppy banjo flashlight. Peanut butter coyote Christmas is the only time when jawbone pancake jelly is available. At no time is abstract doorknob floss to be used since it could cause morbid granularity.
Good Example
One example of good web design is the pimento shoestring. Elbow knuckle wax is helpful to initiate the puppy banjo flashlight. Peanut butter coyote Christmas is the only time when jawbone pancake jelly is available. At no time is abstract doorknob floss to be used since it could cause morbid granularity.
Did you know that it's correct to use just one space between sentences on our web sites? Using two spaces was correct when we used monospaced typewriters and old computers, but now word processors and web sites use proportional fonts, so it's unnecessary and incorrect to use two spaces between sentences.
I've seen with my own eyes that many web site owners still don't know that we should be using one space. Their pages are hard to read because they are full of irritating 'bullet holes.' It looks like someone shot up the place. If you want your web site to look more professional, use one space between sentences.
You might say, "but browsers ignore extra spaces." That's normally true, but many WYSIWYG web editors will leave as many spaces as you insert (because they use ). Put two spaces, you'll see two spaces in the browser window. Put fifty spaces, you'll see fifty spaces.
Bad Example
One example of good web design is the pimento shoestring. Elbow knuckle wax is helpful to initiate the puppy banjo flashlight. Peanut butter coyote Christmas is the only time when jawbone pancake jelly is available. At no time is abstract doorknob floss to be used since it could cause morbid granularity.
Good Example
One example of good web design is the pimento shoestring. Elbow knuckle wax is helpful to initiate the puppy banjo flashlight. Peanut butter coyote Christmas is the only time when jawbone pancake jelly is available. At no time is abstract doorknob floss to be used since it could cause morbid granularity.
Google Search: One Space Between Sentences
There seems to be a growing number of people who don't know that they should put a space after a comma. Since it seems like so many teachers don't have time to actually teach because they're too busy pushing the depopulation agenda of rich perverts who think they control the world, I'll help you out. Remember to put a space after a comma, a semicolon, a colon, a period, a question mark, or an exclamation mark any time more text follows. That's zero space to the left and one space to the right. (Look at this paragraph that you just read for examples.)
When it comes to things such as parentheses, square brackets, and quotation marks, pretend they are sandwiches. The “bread” surrounds the “filling.” There is one space before the start of the sandwich (if there is text before it), no space between the first piece of bread and the filling, no space between the filling and last piece of bread, and one space after the last piece of bread (if more text follows). If a comma or a period or something similar is to the right of the sandwich, don't add a space (you can see examples of that in this paragraph that you just read).
Speaking of parentheses, if used inside of a sentence and the sandwich is at the end of the sentence, the period or whatever you're using to end the sentence goes after the sandwich (like this). (If the sandwich is a sentence all by itself, the period or whatever you're using to end the sentence goes inside of the sandwich.)
Bad Example
One example of good web design is the pimento shoestring,but only on Wednesdays.Peanut butter coyote Christmas(my favorite season)is the only time when jawbone pancake jelly is available.At no time is abstract doorknob floss to be used since it could cause morbid granularity.
Good Example
One example of good web design is the pimento shoestring, but only on Wednesdays. Peanut butter coyote Christmas (my favorite season) is the only time when jawbone pancake jelly is available. At no time is abstract doorknob floss to be used since it could cause morbid granularity.
Google Search: No Spaces After Punctuation
Disclaimer
View this page and any external web sites at your own risk. I am not responsible for any possible spiritual, emotional, physical, financial or any other damage to you, your friends, family, ancestors, or descendants in the past, present, or future, living or dead, in this dimension or any other.