Spilleng andd Grammer

By Michael Bloch
Posted Wednesday, August 18, 2004

Often when reading what would appear to be a good article, I will stumble upon a spelling error. All of a sudden, the focus is not on how good the article or web site is, but on the error.

If there are a number of errors on a page, a visitor is left wondering as to the validity of the information presented to them, and if it is an eCommerce site; whether the site owner can be trusted with credit card numbers.... seriously.

Another little trend that has been alive since the BBS days is "cOOl rAd d00dE" style of typing. Well, it isn't cool, it's no longer radical but yes, it does pigeonhole you as a "dude". It brings to mind visions of Beavis and Butthead.

My experience in Australian employment and training services has demonstrated to me that spelling and grammar standards are dropping at an alarming rate. The web actually encourages people to read, so I feel that all web designers have a personal responsibility to observe at least the basics in spelling and grammar. There is a tendency these days for people to spell phonetically (spelling a word the way it sounds).

It is a daunting task for International designers, for whom English is a secondary language, to meet this challenge. Translation is an expensive process; but the web is more than just a way to make a few dollars - it is a community of people who are happy (for the most part) to assist others, and it shouldn't cost you. Post requests on discussion boards for people to review your site and accentuate the fact that you would like the validity of the text examined. You'll be inundated with offers from around the world.

It's all well and good to use abbreviations in functions such as chat to assist in the flow of conversation, but when that "lingo" makes it way on to your web pages to represent your company or expertise..... we all lose....

By the way, so it doesn't seem as though I am pointing the finger at everyone else but myself, I encourage you to email grammatical and spelling errors that you may find on my website...I am sure that there will be a few and I would be most appreciative of your feedback

About the Author
Michael Bloch
Taming the Beast.net
(http://www.tamingthebeast.net)
Tutorials, web content and tools, software and community. Web Marketing, eCommerce & Development solutions.