Operation Manual

Working with Text 53
However, even if you don’t apply a scheme color to your text, if you
add a hyperlink to any text you’ll notice that it takes on a color... and
after that hyperlink is clicked in a browser, the text turns yet another
color. Where do these colors come from? They’re two of the three so-
called adjunct colors associated with each site’s color scheme, and
included as part of each sample in the Schemes tab gallery:
♦ The Hyperlink color applies to hyperlinked text before it’s been
clicked on.
♦ The same text after a Web visitor has clicked to “follow” the link
takes on the Followed Hyperlink color.
In the next chapter, we’ll resume the discussion of scheme colors and
explain how you can customize individual colors (including the adjunct
colors) or create your own schemes from scratch.
Design tips
Here are some points to keep in mind when working with text (see also
the suggested links at the end of Chapter 5):
♦ Hardly anyone actually prefers reading computer text over
traditional print. Try to make your text inviting, at least. As a rule,
users should be able to view each text block in the browser
window without scrolling. Use short, newspaper-style paragraphs,
not flowing, book-length ones. The “inverted pyramid” style of
writing found in journalism works well on Web pages, too: use a
strong lead-in and place essential information up front.
♦ There’s plain text, and then there’s hypertext (linked text). As a
Web author, writing well is only part of your job. Adding
hyperlinks that enhance access to your key ideas is an equally vital
task.
♦ Headlines and subheadlines are useful devices to facilitate
scanning (scrolling) and to break up the monotony of longer
stories. Use left aligned rather than centered heads. Avoid headline
text larger than 24pt, which looks amateurish, and all-uppercase
headlines, which can be hard to read. For variety, you can color the
heads and subheads differently from body text—just don’t overdo
it!