Short headings and summaries

Gerry McGovern suggests (see Secrets of great Web headings )

  • Headings and titles less than 8 words, nearer 4
  • Summaries less than 30 words
  • Online research indicates most summaries coming in at 17 words with a low of 10 and a high of 25

Idea for lesson activity: take typical Intranet news item text and write a page title and summary on 5 by 3 card. Swap with another member of the group and then ask them what they think might be on the rest of the page. Compare to the full page content and evaluate what use the heading and summary was in acting as an ‘advance organiser’ for the page.

I found McGovern’s page via the usable help blog.

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