{"id":166,"date":"2017-08-09T15:59:42","date_gmt":"2017-08-09T15:59:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/atd-clinton-technicalwriting\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=166"},"modified":"2017-08-09T15:59:42","modified_gmt":"2017-08-09T15:59:42","slug":"readability-factors","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/atd-clinton-technicalwriting\/chapter\/readability-factors\/","title":{"raw":"Readability Factors","rendered":"Readability Factors"},"content":{"raw":"<div class=\"no-overflow\">\r\n\r\n<a title=\"Readability\" href=\"https:\/\/clinton.delhi.edu\/mod\/page\/view.php?id=2967\">Readability<\/a>\u00a0(the process of making documents easier to read, understand and respond to) can be divided into two main categories: content and design. Technical writers have to make conscious efforts to make both the information and the document stand out.\r\n\r\nHere are a few ways to make papers more readable:\r\n<h2><b>Content<\/b><\/h2>\r\n<h3>\u00a0Language:<\/h3>\r\nUse simple language whenever possible.\r\n\r\nDefine complex language.\r\n\r\nChoose strong active verbs (avoid passive voice most often).\r\n<h3>Sentences and paragraphs:<\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Use short sentences on average.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Use short paragraphs. Look for ways to break one longer paragraph into a series of shorter paragraphs.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Single space most documents. Skip lines between paragraphs when convenient.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Use parallelism in lists. Help your reader get from beginning to end.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h3>Message<\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Be specific. Give your reader images he\/she can see.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Provide enough information for the reader to understand and respond to.\u00a0<b>Length only matters to the point of having fulfilled the audience\u2019s needs<\/b>.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Don\u2019t provide unnecessary information. Learn to omit material as easily as you add material.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Use an opening that lets your reader know why you are writing and why they will benefit from reading the information.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Define unfamiliar language.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><i>Understand your reader\u2019s needs.<\/i><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h2>\u00a0<b>Design<\/b><\/h2>\r\n<h3>\r\nEmphatic tools<\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Use things like boldface, italics and underline to help your reader understand important issues.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Use headings and sub-headings to help separate sections and to help your reader remember what it is you are focusing on.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Use columns and bulleted lists to help make items stand out.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Use white space to help influence the reader to read: psychologically, it looks a lot better when it\u2019s not filled with words.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h3>\u00a0Graphics<\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Use tables, charts, graphs to pull numbers out of text.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Place graphics close to the information they pertain to.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Use objective or symbolic graphics to help your reader see images you are having difficulty describing.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<h3>Formatting<\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Use consistent design from beginning to end of the document.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Choose reader-friendly fonts and prints. Help the reader read the information.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><i>Don\u2019t let your design overwhelm your content- pick and choose design tools<\/i>.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nThis is only a basic review of\u00a0<a title=\"Readability\" href=\"https:\/\/clinton.delhi.edu\/mod\/page\/view.php?id=2967\">readability<\/a>\u00a0factors. Everything we discuss and evaluate in technical writing relates to the two prongs of technical writing: content and design. The bottom line is,\u00a0<b>make your documents professional quality<\/b>.\r\n\r\n<\/div>","rendered":"<div class=\"no-overflow\">\n<p><a title=\"Readability\" href=\"https:\/\/clinton.delhi.edu\/mod\/page\/view.php?id=2967\">Readability<\/a>\u00a0(the process of making documents easier to read, understand and respond to) can be divided into two main categories: content and design. Technical writers have to make conscious efforts to make both the information and the document stand out.<\/p>\n<p>Here are a few ways to make papers more readable:<\/p>\n<h2><b>Content<\/b><\/h2>\n<h3>\u00a0Language:<\/h3>\n<p>Use simple language whenever possible.<\/p>\n<p>Define complex language.<\/p>\n<p>Choose strong active verbs (avoid passive voice most often).<\/p>\n<h3>Sentences and paragraphs:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Use short sentences on average.<\/li>\n<li>Use short paragraphs. Look for ways to break one longer paragraph into a series of shorter paragraphs.<\/li>\n<li>Single space most documents. Skip lines between paragraphs when convenient.<\/li>\n<li>Use parallelism in lists. Help your reader get from beginning to end.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Message<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Be specific. Give your reader images he\/she can see.<\/li>\n<li>Provide enough information for the reader to understand and respond to.\u00a0<b>Length only matters to the point of having fulfilled the audience\u2019s needs<\/b>.<\/li>\n<li>Don\u2019t provide unnecessary information. Learn to omit material as easily as you add material.<\/li>\n<li>Use an opening that lets your reader know why you are writing and why they will benefit from reading the information.<\/li>\n<li>Define unfamiliar language.<\/li>\n<li><i>Understand your reader\u2019s needs.<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>\u00a0<b>Design<\/b><\/h2>\n<h3>\nEmphatic tools<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Use things like boldface, italics and underline to help your reader understand important issues.<\/li>\n<li>Use headings and sub-headings to help separate sections and to help your reader remember what it is you are focusing on.<\/li>\n<li>Use columns and bulleted lists to help make items stand out.<\/li>\n<li>Use white space to help influence the reader to read: psychologically, it looks a lot better when it\u2019s not filled with words.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>\u00a0Graphics<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Use tables, charts, graphs to pull numbers out of text.<\/li>\n<li>Place graphics close to the information they pertain to.<\/li>\n<li>Use objective or symbolic graphics to help your reader see images you are having difficulty describing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>Formatting<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Use consistent design from beginning to end of the document.<\/li>\n<li>Choose reader-friendly fonts and prints. Help the reader read the information.<\/li>\n<li><i>Don\u2019t let your design overwhelm your content- pick and choose design tools<\/i>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>This is only a basic review of\u00a0<a title=\"Readability\" href=\"https:\/\/clinton.delhi.edu\/mod\/page\/view.php?id=2967\">readability<\/a>\u00a0factors. Everything we discuss and evaluate in technical writing relates to the two prongs of technical writing: content and design. The bottom line is,\u00a0<b>make your documents professional quality<\/b>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t <section class=\"citations-section\" role=\"contentinfo\">\n\t\t\t <h3>Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t <div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <div id=\"citation-list-166\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <div class=\"licensing\"><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Original<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Eng 235. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Jeff Meyers. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Clinton Community College. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t <\/section>","protected":false},"author":23590,"menu_order":4,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[{\"type\":\"original\",\"description\":\"Eng 235\",\"author\":\"Jeff Meyers\",\"organization\":\"Clinton Community College\",\"url\":\"\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by\",\"license_terms\":\"\"}]","CANDELA_OUTCOMES_GUID":"","pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-166","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":25,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/atd-clinton-technicalwriting\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/atd-clinton-technicalwriting\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/atd-clinton-technicalwriting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/atd-clinton-technicalwriting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23590"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/atd-clinton-technicalwriting\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/166\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":167,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/atd-clinton-technicalwriting\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/166\/revisions\/167"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/atd-clinton-technicalwriting\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/25"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/atd-clinton-technicalwriting\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/166\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/atd-clinton-technicalwriting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/atd-clinton-technicalwriting\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=166"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/atd-clinton-technicalwriting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=166"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/atd-clinton-technicalwriting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}