Lists are part of everyday life. We use lists for shopping, navigation and even recipes. It’s not surprising then that lists are also prominent on websites. They make web content easy to scan and understand.
Why use lists?
Lists keep content concise and digestible. The two common ways to present lists are, numbered and bulleted. Also known as ordered and unordered lists. Both lists have a different purpose and help users consume your content.
Writing for web best practice promotes the use of lists when presenting content online. Lists summarise and optimise your content for scanning. Providing attractive content to grab the audience’s attention.
We use lists when we need to present multiple items. These would otherwise be items listed intext separated with commas. In most cases, you will use a lead-in sentence to introduce a list.
Unordered lists
Unordered lists are used to group a set of related items in no order. To use an unordered list, select the following icon from your WYSIWG toolbar.
To use an ordered list, select the following icon from your WYSIWG toolbar.
Ordered lists
We use ordered lists to display information with a logical or specific order. Ordered lists may feature a sequence of items with a number indicating an order in the list.
This may include a direction to get somewhere, a method to create a recipe or steps to upload a document online.
To use an ordered list, select the following icon from your WYSIWG toolbar.
Best practice
• avoid using the same opening to each listed item
• listed items should be approximately the same length. This ensures one item doesn’t outshine the other
• consistency is key, ensure content is edited consistently on your page
Have questions about your web editing?
Remember, we’re always here to help! To reach out, please:
