Ever read a page in a book, gotten to the bottom and asked yourself, “What the hell did I just read?”
If this has happened to you, you’re not alone. I struggle with this often, and so do lots of people. I usually begin a page and start thinking about something else before catching myself and needing to start all over again.
For people with ADHD, this is a daily uphill battle.
A 2006 NIH study claims that 1 in 20 people may have ADHD.
A neurodivergent condition, making concentrating a particularly menacing challenge, has gone under-reported and diagnosed since… well, forever.
Keeping anyone’s attention is vital for a website, blog, or even a journey in an app. If the user misses too much information, they can become lost and frustrated and could abandon the journey. People with concentration issues often experience the short end of the stick.
And when we write for a large audience, we need to think about two main things: Readability and Accessibility.
Let’s break it down.
- What is web accessibility?
It’s the practice of being inclusive in design to make information, actions, services, and interfaces usable and attainable for everyone, including people with disabilities.
A pavement ramp design is a real-world accessibility example we all have encountered, usable by people with wheelchairs, prams, bikes and people out walking. Nobody is excluded by this design.
In the context of apps and websites, it could be dark grey text on a black background or using colours like green and red. You could be excluding people with low vision or colour blindness.
A simple visit to sites like Accessible Web can determine if your copy meets AAA contrast ratio standards or not.
- What is web readability?
The ease with which a reader can successfully comprehend and make sense of the text is known as readability. The typographic style of the text, such as letter shape, size, and spacing, is also crucial.
However, the context in which we use the words is important and deserves the most attention. This context determines how readable sentences are and how easily users digest and understand the information.
All these factors have an impact on fluency and understanding.
With awareness of neurodivergent qualities like ADHD at an all-time high, there has never been a better time to ensure readability and accessibility.
Some copywriters think their app language should be overly clever or insist on implementing brand voice, sacrificing clarity for style. But they miss a simple truth.
Writing is a communication tool. There is nothing clever about excluding a part of your potential audience to sound cheeky or intellectual. And this is where good UX comes in.
Because: Writing is for everyone! It is up to Content Designers to locate and update copy that causes any friction with any user. And this goes for all interface copy, from shipping instructions on a checkout screen, to warning modals outlining action consequences, to simple button copy.
The Content Designer should make this content readable, comprehensible, helpful and useful for all audiences and abilities. This is achieved by setting a readability and accessibility benchmark for every word, sentence, and button to serve every user.
A general rule for writing copy on your app for all reading levels is to keep things brief and purposeful. People process information differently and we aren’t all at the same reading level.
Be engaging within the means of your brand’s tone of voice. Avoid too much monotone language — try to maintain attention as if you were speaking to a friend. Be communicative and kind.
Avoid including too many links and CTAs leading away from the page. Don’t distract your audience with what isn’t directly or immediately relevant to the flow.
Consider how interfaces are used differently by people with disabilities, such as those who require screen-readers. Adjust your copy to be structured and logical to make sense for those using screen-readers.
Specifically writing copy for people with disabilities doesn’t exclude neurotypical people, but vice versa does. Try to think of every way you might exclude a potential part of your audience, and plan workarounds so that you are instead catering to them.
When designing a product, the earlier you make copywriting part of the process, the better the experience will be for users.
Short and concise sentences:
- sentences should aim to be 25 words or fewer
- don’t give too many details
- avoid using unnecessary adjectives
- sentences need a clear path from point A to point B (no point C, D, E, etc.)
Having trouble getting your word count down? Check out this Concise Writing article I put together.
Be inclusive:
- avoid big words (thesaurus is your friend)
- use everyday language
- eliminate jargon
- aim for simplicity
- avoid sounding robotic or monotone (unless your app is for A.I.)
- introduce acronyms with the proper context.Understanding that no two people are the same, here’s some tips you can consider to help make the copy on your next screen more inclusive.
Call To Actions (CTAs):
- clearly label buttons (the user should expect where buttons lead them)
- clearly label ‘learn more’ CTAs (eg. Learn more about our Terms and Services)
- position CTAs with proper context
- keep CTAs consistent across apps/websites.
Information architecture:
- appropriately name page titles
- use headings and subheadings effectively
- ensure wording hierarchy is structured logically in a way users would expect
- ensure wording hierarchy is navigable for those using screen-readers
- ensure the most important information is what users see first.
Guide the user:
- ensure you include detailed and helpful onboarding
- Include intuitive design (and copy)
- be helpful and make sure the copy guides the user to where they need to go
- only provide the user with information on a screen that is immediately relevant
- keep all copy on every screen at a bare minimum
- ensure all the copy is supported with proper context.
A good general rule that all Content Designers should follow is to question everything. Is this sentence understandable for the user? Or could someone struggle to read it? Is there a simpler alternative for this word?
And that’s a wrap. Hopefully this article was thought provoking and will enlighten you to consider your audience more closely and how they relate to and use your app.
When your words are flawless, you won’t even notice them. Like fitting music in an epic film.
