Website Usability Guidelines

Content Copy Proofreading

Follow these usability recommendations:

Minimize Distractions - Minimize distractions and interruptions. It's easy to lose your place and skip over text when you're interrupted or distracted. Turn off your phone. Close email. Shut yourself in a quiet room.

Avoid Being the Sole Proofreader - Don't be the sole proofreader of your own writing. You're too close to it, you can't see mistakes others see.

Concentrate on the Subject Matter and Flow - Force yourself to slow down and concentrate. Focus on each word and character - letters, punctuation, special characters, spaces - not on meaning. If you think about meaning, you'll see what you expect to see, especially in your own writing. Break large slabs of copy into small bits to avoid slipping into automatic reading mode.

Several Passes - Don't try to find every mistake in one pass. Read through the material several times, looking for different problems each time, such as:

• Typos and misspellings
• Easily confused words (e.g., to for too and your for you're)
• Ambiguity
• Inconsistencies
• Formatting problems
• Factual errors
• Missing words

Print Pages - Print out the pages for one final read-through. Proofreading on screen and proofreading on paper complement each other well. It's easier to catch some errors on paper and others on screen.

Read Backwards - Read backwards. Reading backwards can help you focus on the words.

Different Platforms - Proofread online on different platforms and in different browsers.

All Caps - Proof any text in all caps separately and more painstakingly. Typos and misspellings are much more difficult to see in all caps.

Table of Contents - If There's an outline or table of contents, check it separately. Otherwise you'll get caught up in the text and miss errors.

Prominent Text - Proof the most prominent text separately. Ironically, the most prominent text is often the most easily overlooked.