The editor can also serve as your usability tester, so be sure to create a list of any aspects of your web page design or content for which you particularly need feedback. (You can provide this information in the appropriate area of the editing request form, listed in "Editing References.")

To schedule editing, submit a hard-copy version of your web pages for the editorial review along with the completed editing request form. Or, provide the URL and the completed electronic editing request. A hard-copy edit decreases the likelihood that questionable corrections will be made to the electronic file. The paper version also gives you a handwritten record of the changes.

USAGE REFERENCES

For more information on writing style conventions, see the following:

The Chicago Manual of Style. 14th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993.

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. 10th ed. Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1994.

The Random House Dictionary of the English Language. 2d ed. New York: Random House, 1987. 

Web Facts

79% of users always scan; only 16% read word-by-word

Reading from computer screens is 25% slower than from paper

Web content should be 50% the size of its paper equivalent

White Papers re-written according to these guidelines have shown significant improvements in all metrics:

Task Time: User Error: Memory: Subjective satisfaction: Overall usability:

180% faster 809% fewer 100% more 37% higher 159% better

Copyright 1994-2008 Sun Microsystems, Inc.

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