I can really recommend this post on web accessibility by Andrew Tipp at Suffolk County Council. It provides a good introduction to some accessibility basics, but it also includes some good reminders for those who've been doing this stuff for a while.
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Posts tagged with link
Naming services in complex situations
This blog post on naming services is by Dani Allen, a lead content designer at TPXimpact:
Naming services is an important part of digital transformation. Service names need to be clear, concise and related to the task people are completing. But this can become harder when the situation becomes more complex.
The thrust of the post is about using dedicated workshops to get all the key people together:
An engaging naming workshop is a way of making sure that everyone has the same level of knowledge of what’s involved in this task, and the importance of it. Getting important stakeholders involved and as close as possible to this work will set you up for success.
I have one extra tip on naming your service. I learnt this the hard way last year. Before you start telling people your new service name, remember to carry out a quick check to make sure that any inevitable acronyms are not, well... a bit rude. Cripes.
Quick and useful explanation of the active voice
Here is a smashing and very short post about the active voice on LinkedIn by Hannah Collins. Some people find it tricky to spot the difference between the active and passive voice, so I am very much into this kind of concise overview.
Why plain language and Plain English are different
I did not know a lot of the history outlined in this post by Caroline Jarrett until she kindly pointed me to it last year. Historical drama aside, I think the key distinction for me is the importance of testing content with users.
Plain language relies on testing with users. If the intended users can use the content to do what they need to do, it’s plain. If they can’t, it’s not plain. So you can only really know whether you have succeeded in writing in plain language when you have tested with the actual users.
And of course, this detail is fundamental to content design as a discipline. It's about following the principles of clear writing, but making decisions based on research and data. You need to understand what users need before you start writing. Then you need to test your content when you're done to make sure it meets those needs. It's only plain or clear if it does.
Trello template for planning your content projects
I've mostly been trapped in the world of Jira and infinite tickets for the last couple of years. But I still think Trello is a great place to start when organising projects and content and whatever else you are working on.
Sure, these days it's more bloated than it needs to be, but it does still do the essential things you need to get your bits and bobs in order. This content template is very similar to the one I tend to use and is pretty good for getting started.
How screen readers use headings to make table content accessible
It looks like I'll be spending the best part of this year designing some pretty tricky tables. There will be lots of columns and lots of rows. More data that I can shake a stick at. And making all of it accessible is really important too.
Anyway, I'm expecting lots of learning. Lots of user research. And plenty of digging into resources that are already out there and available, like this quick video explainer from GOV.UK on how screen readers use headings.
