Pepi Ronalds on A List Apart got a rush of comments on a post lamenting the fact that content is the last to be considered or delivered, even on brilliant web developments. Hm, sounds familiar. Here's a sample of this witty and tragic article.
Like many other clients, my it’s-been-three-years-and-I-still-don’t-have-the-content client had a patchwork of words produced by subject matter experts with no training as writers and no guidance. While they may know their area (a profession, a department, a product) quite well, and are sometimes able to write lucidly, subject matter experts are seldom sensitive to the nuances of the English language. They also tend to pay little attention to the wording for miscellaneous pages, forms, submission messages, pop-up boxes, and so on. As a consequence, website content often fails to reflect the thought and planning that goes into the rest of the site. The language on sites built this way is almost always inconsistent: spelling, grammar rules, tone, and voice are like flotsam and jetsam on the shores of a sea of information. My guy knows this. He just needs time to sit down and fix it all. To, er, give it a good edit.
Image from that very article on A List Apart.
Leave a comment: