Every site we build goes through rigorous technical and quality checks before being released into the wild. I\u2019m involved in the quality side as part of the editorial team who are responsible for proofreading the content.<\/p>\n
There’s a simple reason for all the checks we do prior to making a site live: visitors to your site will judge you for the mistakes they find. And that judgement could be the difference between recruiting a student or attracting a new member of staff\/partner\/funder, or not.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s our checklist of things to look out for.<\/p>\n
First on the list is a check to make sure there are no typos or spelling mistakes\u00a0– we get help with this from SiteImprove.<\/p>\n
We’ll also check the grammar. A misplaced comma can make a massive difference to the meaning of a sentence.<\/p>\n
We’ll check to make sure content is as clear as possible. Sentences and paragraphs should be short. Content should be direct and helpful – if you’re inclined to ramble, beware.<\/p>\n
We’re looking for use of plain English. We’ll remove\u00a0jargon, caveats and unnecessary words.<\/p>\n
We’re also\u00a0looking out for cases of repetition – within the page and across the site.<\/p>\n
Part of the proof is to make sure content is current and accurate. When we’re migrating sites we begin with a snapshot of content, and this can often go out of date during the development phase. The most common instance\u00a0is\u00a0where deadlines have passed.<\/p>\n
We have a set of content and editorial standards that help us maintain consistency across the\u00a0University website. You can get a flavour of these standards through our quick guides series<\/a>.\u00a0Part of our proofreading is\u00a0to make sure content meets these standards.<\/p>\n We always make sure that someone who hasn\u2019t worked on the content before takes on the role of proof reader. This fresh pair of eyes is more likely to spot anything that doesn\u2019t make sense and might confuse the user.<\/p>\n Why not use our proofing checklist to make sure anything you publish on your site meets the web team\u2019s standards. We\u2019ve produced a content quality checklist<\/a> (PDF: 74KB) to help with this.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Every site we build goes through rigorous technical and quality checks before being released into the wild. I\u2019m involved in the quality side as part of the editorial team who are responsible for proofreading the content. There’s a simple reason … Continue reading Sense check<\/h2>\n
Give it a go<\/h2>\n