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| Designing Readable Web Pages
A Simple Proposal to Improve the Presentation of Information By arranging the information on a Web page so that it flows across the page in a pattern that matches the way the reader’s eyes move across the page, you will make the reader’s job easier. As a result, the page will be easier to read, and the information on it will be easier to understand and remember. |
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read a page of English and most other European languages from left to right
and top to bottom. That simple fact creates a progression in reading from
the upper left to the lower right. If you arrange information on a page
to match this progression, the page feels comfortable and logical. |
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The best areas for information are within the pattern of progression, the lighter areas in the diagram. The corners at the upper right and lower left, which fall outside the pattern, are not good locations for essential information or anything that will distract the reader from the essential information. | |||
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Limiting text to a narrow column makes the reader’s job easier because long lines of text are difficult for the eye to follow. Breaking the text into short paragraphs of closely related information imposes a logical pattern on the written expression of ideas and a visual pattern on the presentation of the writing. | |||
| If we begin with the reader’s pattern of progression through a page, exclude the corners outside the pattern, and limit the body text to a column narrow enough for easy reading, we arrive at a framework for a page that guides the reader along a comfortable path from entry at the top left through exit at the lower right. To keep the reader from being distracted from the text, all instructions, explanations, anecdotes, and links should appear within the areas shown in white in the diagram at the right. The gray areas should be used for illustrations, diagrams, and photographs that will enhance the readerís understanding of the text. |  |
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| You’ll put the entry area of the page to best use if you identify the page with a navigational header, descriptive title, and subtitle and provide a few sentences that summarize or introduce the content of the page. In the exit area, you might reiterate the most important point or main idea of the page. Links to other areas of the site, to related pages, or to pages that follow in sequence should be the last cluster of information the reader encounters before leaving the page. They are the exit portals. The upper right hand corner is a good spot for your brand or logo. Note that images should when possible be placed within the path as it flows from top left to bottom right. |  |
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| This basic pattern provides a framework for making information flow logically for readers of Western languages. At times you will want to break the pattern—adding a sidebar, for example—but avoid distractions that diminish understanding. |
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