Welcome to Dr. Claire Lamonica's Website

My Research Interests :

• Use simple sentence structures (convoluted writing and complex words are hard to understand).
• Instead of presenting textual content in a long paragraph, on the Web textual information should be presented in short “chunks” that have only one main point. Chunks are small manageable units of information (1-7 pieces of relevant and related information) that fill the screen with 100 words or less (in 2-3 paragraphs).
• Start a Web page with the conclusion first, as well as a short summary of the remaining contents, instead of leading up to the main point (as is typical in a paragraph). Visitors often do not scroll to see what is on the rest of the page, so keep the important information "above the scroll" (e.g., one screen in length).
• Update your Web site's content regularly (at least once a month).
• Don’t use a promotional writing style with subjective claims ("hottest ever"). This type of writing seems to impose a cognitive burden on visitors who don’t want to spend their time filtering out the promotional language to get to the facts.
• Do not call attention to the Web by using phrases like: “click here," "follow this link," and "this Web site.” This is also helpful for individuals who must use screen readers to “view” a Web page, because “click here” conveys no meaning to them.
• Cut out any “nice-to-know” information and instead consider using graphics to get the point across, if possible.
• Use meaningful headers to label short chunks of information and to convey to the visitor the main point of the information presented in the chunk. Headers that are emphasized in some way (bold, larger type, etc.) make it easier for the visitor to scan the Web page.
  • Bold type, used sparingly, is the best format for textual emphasis on the Web. Color, typeface variations, and hypertext links also serve as other forms of emphasis.
  • Emphasize only key information-carrying words and avoid highlighting entire sentences or long phrases because visitors can only pick up two or three words.
  • Avoid italic type, if possible, because it does not display well on computer monitors.
  • Avoid capitalizing entire words for emphasis because this increases reading time and puts excessive strain on the eyes.
  • Do not underline text for emphasis, because underlining should be reserved for links.
  • Emphasize minor textual points to make them stand out and make sure they are useful even without the surrounding text.
• Consider presenting minor points in a list format (bullets or numerical) to further chunk this extra information. Lists draw in the scanning eye.
  • Use numbered lists when the order of entries is important and unnumbered lists when the sequence of the entries is not important.
  • Place no more than seven to nine items in a list (this includes a list of links, such as in a navigation menu).
  • Limit lists to two levels: primary and secondary.
• Some, but not most, Web visitors will want to read extra information on a topic and the Web is the perfect place for delivering detailed information, but only on a third or fourth level page (or in a PDF document, etc.).
• Links should be meaningful headers or a brief description of the information to be found in the linked Web page.