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getting the message across
Political web sites need to get their message across to readers quickly and
effortlessly. The classic study of scan-reading and web usability (Neilsen
1997) found that 79% of readers scan web content. This same study
demonstrated that writing content so that it is easily scanned more than
doubles communication effectiveness (greater information recall, less time
taken for reading and fewer misinterpretations). Our analysis below,
however, suggests that much of the page content on all the major party
political websites is neither written nor presented to facilitate scan reading.
To illustrate this, here are the statements from the Liberal
Democrat, Conservative and Labour
parties on their beliefs/values (my images below are only indended to indicate
their scannability). It is particularly important that this type of content is
scannable since most readers would assume they had a basic understanding of
what the parties stood for but might want to scan these statements to see if
there was anything new or unexpected. Jump directly to our conclusions
Liberal Democrats
The worst for scannability is the Liberal Democrats statement.
Although they state clearly that it is the pre-amble to their party
constitution (presumably a printed document), this is an excuse not a reason
for making it difficult for readers to scan-read. It is 800 words long and
hence more than a casual browser would be expected to read. Its
content actually covers 8 aspects of Liberal Democrat beliefs in a concise and
coherent way (much better than the Labour party). However, without headers
or text-emphasis to guide the reader to the bits that interest them, few are
likely to get the benefit of it.
Conservatives
By uncanny coincidence, the statement of Conservative party beliefs also has 8
sections. These are much more scannable, simply because they do have headings
indicating what each paragraph is about. That's better but it's still not good!
Some of the statements within each section are clearly (from the nature of
their campaign) core beliefs - e.g. 'we believe in the benefits of low taxes'.
So why are they not highlighted to draw the readers eye to them? Other
statements are either not self evident or could benefit from more in-depth
explanation - e.g. 'Conservatives believe the people should be big, and the
state should be small'. So why not hyperlink them to a more in-depth
explanation for any readers that are particularly interested in this issue?
Labour
The Labour party does not have a single page stating their beliefs. This 'About
Labour' page is what you get when you click links to 'our values' elsewhere on
the site. In terms of scannability it has the advantages of brevity and links
giving greater detail about specific topics (although these links are,
unfortunately, not specifically about Labour values). This brevity,
however, prevents readers from getting as broad-ranging an understanding of
what the party stands for as they get from the other two parties.
Conclusions
Election politics is all about communicating policy about a wide range of
complex issues. Only the most dedicated voter will read three (or more)
election manifestos and hence political web sites provide a unique medium for
voters to find out what the parties stand for and how they differ. Not writing
their content to make it scannable is a fundamental error that, by and large,
is being committed by all parties.
Links:
Conservatives;
Labour; Liberal
Democrats