For citizens, a visit to your website might be the only interaction they ever have with your agency. A bad experience on even one government website is a poor reflection on all of us.
Is your website showing your agency, and the government, at its best?
Writing content in plain language is the most important thing we can do to improve our users’ online experience. But most of us don’t spend the time focusing on the words we put on the page. There is content on all of our websites that isn’t written in plain language — pages that have long paragraphs, confusing instructions, or key information buried at the bottom of the page. You need to do something about it, but don’t know where to start or don’t have the time…
Register now for Leslie O’Flahavan’s Writing Well for Online Readers: Essentials of Plain Language. This former Writing for the Web course is now a hands on workshop where you will BRING your website content issues and WORK on them during the course. Leslie will provide you with professional feedback while you tap into your peers for insight and brainstorming. In just 2 days you will be able to make real significant content changes that you can bring back to your agency.
Writing Well for Online Readers: Essentials for Writing in Plain Language
Class Format: Two-Day Course
Instructor: Leslie O’Flahavan
Date: Wednesday—Thursday, October 6–7, 2010
Time: 9:00 AM–4:00 PM each day
Location: To Be Determined – Washington, DC
Fee: $600 federal, state, local government / $800 non-government
Course Description
If you’re a web content writer, manager, or editor, this course will provide you with what you’ve often said you need: practical guidance on writing plain language web content, examples of effective content, and uninterrupted time to write. This hands-on course introduces you to the principles of web writing. You’ll learn how to explain the business value of writing well for online readers and strategies for assessing whether your content is paying a high return on your investment of time. You’ll also be introduced to a range of web writing resources including style guides, content case studies, websites, conferences, and online communities.
During this course, you’ll revise your own web content. You’ll have the chance to share your work with the instructor and other course participants. You’ll receive practical, focused feedback.
What You Will Learn
You’ll learn how to write plain language web content that is:
–Task-oriented,
–Appropriate for its intended readers,
–Repurposed for online readers, not print-based (PDF),
–Concise,
–Scannable,
–Hyperlinked and;
–Findable by search engines
Who Should Attend
Anyone who writes, manages, or edits online content.
What to Bring
Your own web or intranet content to work on during the course. You will have ample time to write and edit during the course, so please bring several pages or an entire section of your site that needs revision. You will receive feedback on your revised content from the instructor and course participants.
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