Preparing written content
It is important to consider who will be reading the content you write. Rather than aiming your subject's content at the 'average' student, consider the barriers encountered by a range of students. Barriers faced by students may be related to a range of factors including disability, background, and context. When writing with the most significant barriers in mind, we create a better experience for all students. For example, when you write simple, clear instructions for the benefit of a student whose first language is not English you help all students efficiently understand requirements.
This article provides writing tips that may make your content easier for all students to read and understand.
Why?
The strategies outlined in this article aim to remove barriers that exist for many people when accessing and interpreting content. Students who may benefit from these approaches include:
- Students with cognitive or learning disabilities – e.g., ADHD, dyslexia, poor working memory.
- Students whose first language is not English.
- Students who are accessing content in distracting environments – e.g., at home with children or on public transport.
How?
Write in plain language
There will always be a need for certain technical or industry-specific language and acronyms to be used in your subject.
Avoid overcomplicating your writing. Simplified language can remove barriers that may prevent students from effectively understanding key concepts or instructions.
This can include:
- Removing unnecessary words
- Expanding on acronyms when first used
- Providing a glossary with simple definitions and acronyms
Example
Complex language: In light of feedback received in last week’s tutorials, additional information to support the successful completion of Assessment 3 has been made available to students in the Moodle site.
Simplified: More information about Assessment 3 is available in the Moodle site.
Use consistent language
Consistent writing can help to eliminate confusion and ensure that students understand key concepts and requirements. This is especially important for instructional and contextual language. For example, referring to the same lecture materials as ‘lecture notes’, ‘lecture slides’ and ‘weekly notes’ interchangeably can confuse students. Determine how you will label them and use that consistently across the subject.
Group like content together
Write in shorter paragraphs and group like content together with meaningful headings. Dividing large blocks of text into shorter paragraphs introduces more white space which can act as ‘visual bookmarks’. Content that is arranged logically with meaningful headings may be easier for students to navigate and locate appropriate content.
When you are preparing your content, identify components that are non-essential ‘nice to know’ information and group these together in a clearly labelled section. This can help students make informed decisions around how they interact with the content.
Summarise long, complex sections
Providing a concise summary can help students who are skimming a page or resource to find the relevant information. It is also useful for students who are revising content.
For example, a thousand words may be needed to adequately explain a concept, however a fifty-word summary may help the student more efficiently figure out if it is the content they are looking for.
