UX writing and accessibility: writing for everyone

Websites and digital services should exist to serve the public in a way that allows them to find what they're looking for quickly, so they can get on with their day.

UX writing is writing for websites, apps and user interfaces. It's about using plain English to get to the point quickly, to make information inclusive and easy to understand.

UX writing basics
accessibility and usability
how to write in plain English
how to edit and review your work

Transcript

1. By Laura Parker UX Writing and accessibility How to write with everyone in mind 1
2. Housekeeping • This talk is being recorded • Mute your microphone and camera • Use the chat box to ask questions • This talk should last 30 minutes
3. Laura Parker 
 
 UX writer and content designer 
 
 Service experience design team 
 HMRC
 
 @LauraParkerUX
 lauramarieparker.com
4. What I’ll talk about • UX writing • Accessibility and empathy • How to write in plain English • How to check and edit your work
5. What is UX Writing?
6. Some technicalities • User experience (UX) writing is writing to inform or instruct • UX writers use plain English to make information accessible, inclusive and easy to understand • UX writers need empathy to help make services human and relatable • ‘Users’ means people using a service
8. @LauraParkerUX
9. Accessibility and empathy
10. UX writing and accessibility It’s not dumbing down, it’s opening up • Roughly 11.9 million adults in the UK are living with a disability - that’s 1 in 5 or 20% • Making a website or mobile app accessible means making sure it can be used by as many people as possible • This includes those with • Impaired vision • Motor difficulties • Cognitive impairments or learning disabilities • Deafness or impaired hearing http://www.craigabbott.co.uk/accessibility-is-not-an-edge-case
11. The Home Office have created posters to help you to design for different impairments
13. Solving problems for people with one arm solves problems for people with a broken arm, people with bags or people carrying children.
14. Empathise with your users
15. Writing in plain English
16. Writing with empathy is understanding everyone even though we don’t live their lives.
17. Who are you talking to? • To understand your audience you should know: 
 — how they behave, what they’re interested in or worried about - so your writing will catch their attention and answer their questions 
 — their vocabulary - so that you can use the same terms and phrases they’ll use to search for content • Check Google Trends and forums to see how people are talking about DofE
 https://www.gov.uk/guidance/content-design/writing-for-gov-uk
18. Write in plain English • Don’t use jokes or idioms - users on the spectrum might take idioms literally • Use simple sentences and bullets (max 20 words per sentence and two sentences per paragraph) • Don't underline words, use italics or write in capitals • Don't use complicated words or figures of speech • Break up content with sub-headings, images and videos • Use high frequency words - (coat v outdoor wear) • Write for a reading age of 9 years • Don’t exclude anyone - words to use and avoid when writing about disability
19. https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/design/writing-for-user-interfaces
20. Writing for specialists • Use plain language 
 — according to GOV.UK research, people understand complex specialist language, but do not want to read it if there’s an alternative • Technical terms
 — technical terms are not considered jargon but you should explain what they mean • People with the greatest expertise tend to have the most to read 
 — make sure your content is helpful and easy to scan 
 https://www.gov.uk/guidance/content-design/writing-for-gov-uk
21. How to check and edit your work
22. Ways to check and edit your work • Content clinics • 2i and pair writing • Demos and show and tells • Read text on your phone and aloud • Print it out 
 — ask users to highlight any words or phrases they're not sure about and parts they find most useful
23. Give your project a user story • As a [person in a particular role] • I want to [perform an action or try something out] • So that [I can achieve my goal of…] As a headteacher, I want to improve the school’s extracurricular programme so that I can get a better ofsted report.
24. grammarly.com and hemingwayapp.com
25. Books to read • Content Design and by Sarah Richards • Readability Guidelines by Content Design London • Because Internet by Gretchen McCulloch • Everybody Writes by Anne Handley • Don’t make me think: A common sense approach to usability by Steve Krug
26. Thank you
27. @LauraParkerUX People to follow
 Andrew Schmidt (senior product writer at Slack): https://www.andrewschmidt.net 
 Jared Spool (UX) https://www.uie.com @jmspool
 Erika Hall (designer): https://muledesign.com @mulegirl
 Caio Braga (product designer) https://caioab.com @caioab
 Paul Boag (UX expert) https://boagworld.com @boagworld Links to click 
 Readability Guidelines https://readabilityguidelines.myxwiki.org
 Web Content Accessibility Guidelines https://www.w3.org
 Rules of Effective UX Writing https://uxplanet.org/16-rules-of-effective-ux-writing-2a20cf85fdbf
 The Unusable podcast https://podcast.theunusable.com
 Content Design London http://contentdesign.london
 Microsoft accessibility kit https://docs.microsoft.com/en-gb/style-guide/welcome/
 UK Home Office accessibility posters https://github.com/UKHomeOffice/posters/blob/master/accessibility/
 UX Collective https://uxdesign.cc
 UK disability facts and figures http://www.craigabbott.co.uk/accessibility-is-not-an-edge-case
 GOV.UK https://www.gov.uk/guidance/content-design/writing-for-gov-uk
 GOV.UK 2i checklist https://insidegovuk.blog.gov.uk/2014/05/29/what-to-check-before-you-publish-a-2i-checklist/