Given the pace of change in Web-based media and language,
defining styles seems quite contrary. There are, however,
general rules that hold through the flux.
-
Web readers skim text on the screen and jump from one page
to another. Thus, obvious, bold headers and short pages
are advisable.
-
Most Web pages use short paragraphs and sentences. The exceptions
are, of course, Web versions of articles or books.
- Use identical headers and footers for each page. You
should consider each page self-contained -- surfers may
bookmark any page within your site, so easy identifiers
are essential.
- Avoid unnecessary quotation marks for emphasis. Using
boldface for all emphasis is advisable because italics often
produces illegible characters. Also, most Web-specific words
like hotlinks, clicking or frames do not require emphasis
on the Web. If these words are foreign to a Web-surfer,
emphasis will make them more confounding, not less.
