2021 Federal Plain Language Summit: Online Glossaries

General Services Administration glossary page showing a two-column page of terms, with some definitions expanded.

It’s a common issue for many websites: your audience consists of people with different levels of understanding of the words and phrasing used on your website.

You may have new employees or new customers unfamiliar with the jargon, acronyms, and language on your site. In addition, you may have customers and others who interact with your website frequently and understand your words and phrasing.

And you may have long-time employees who are well-versed in your wording, who have no need for terminology definitions.

How do you serve all your audiences?

Continue reading 2021 Federal Plain Language Summit: Online Glossaries

Plan Ahead: Designing for Translation

Online voter registration form for Nevada Secretary of State displays English instructions followed by Spanish instructions. Text next to screenshot reads: Providing a customer experience where the customer has to go through the English website to get to the Spanish (or other language) site. Offer them a dedicated URL that they can bookmark.

Have you ever visited a website in a different language, only to discover content wasn’t translated correctly?

For example, one page has content written in two languages.

Labels in the navigation menu overlap each other. Text in form labels overlap their associated form fields.

Imagery on the site is English-focused and doesn’t align with the culture of the language.

You quickly realize the site wasn’t planned for different languages.

Continue reading Plan Ahead: Designing for Translation

15 Helpful Writing Lessons From Successful Authors [Infographic]

hand writing notes in a journal

What better way to improve your writing than learning from successful authors?

Especially when the tips are formatted in bite-sized lessons you can apply to your writing today?

In their 15 Writing Lessons from Successful Authors (and How to Apply Them) infographic, Ivory Research has compiled lessons from successful authors to help you improve your writing.

You’ll find advice from Nobel Prize author Toni Morrison, horror novelist Stephen King, fiction novelist Joyce Carole Oates, and other well-known authors.

I thought the lessons were excellent! Continue reading 15 Helpful Writing Lessons From Successful Authors [Infographic]