Make the next step easy to find

A guidance document has a practical job: help someone find an answer and use it. That job can be lost beneath a polished cover, long introductory paragraphs and headings that reveal little. Before adding more content, ask what a reader will need to locate. Designing a clear route through the information is part of writing the guidance, and it deserves attention from the first draft.

Begin with the reader’s task

Write down the questions the document needs to answer. A guide to booking a learning session might need to explain who can attend, how to book, what to prepare and how to request support. Those questions provide a useful starting structure.

Place essential information near the beginning. Background can follow where it helps explain the task. The Department for Transport’s guidance on accessible Word documents recommends logical sections, descriptive headings and putting the information most readers need at the top. Applied to everyday professional writing, that means giving the reader a way forward before asking them to absorb the full history.

Let headings describe the route

Read the headings on their own. Could someone predict where to find the preparation requirements or the contact details? Labels such as ‘General information’ can hide several unrelated subjects. ‘Prepare for the session’ gives a clearer indication of what follows.

W3C’s Web Accessibility Initiative explains that headings convey structure and can support navigation with assistive technology. A heading needs the appropriate structural markup, rather than simply larger or bolder text. In Word, use heading styles; on a web page, use the corresponding heading elements.

Keep the hierarchy logical. Main sections should sit at the same level, with subsections beneath the section they explain. Changing a heading level merely to obtain a preferred font size confuses structure with appearance. Set the structure first, then adjust its visual style.

Make instructions and links specific

An instruction should identify the action and give the information needed to complete it. In a hypothetical booking guide, ‘Return the completed booking form to the training coordinator by the stated deadline’ is more useful than ‘Please action accordingly’. The guide would also need to supply the actual destination and deadline.

Give links descriptive names. W3C recommends text that explains the destination, rather than ambiguous wording such as ‘click here’. ‘Download the session preparation guide’ tells the reader what to expect. Identify the file type where that information will help someone decide how to open it.

Check the destination too. A well-named link is still unhelpful if it leads to an outdated form or a page the intended reader cannot access. Open each link using the access arrangements readers will have, wherever practical.

Keep meaning available in different ways

GOV.UK’s accessible-document guidance advises against using colour or shape alone to communicate meaning. If a colour marks an overdue action, add a clear text label as well. Instructions should name the relevant section or control instead of relying only on its position on the page.

Choose a format that suits the task. GOV.UK recommends HTML as the first choice for publishing documents where possible. A downloadable file may still serve a particular need, such as a printable worksheet. Decide how people will read, navigate or complete the material before choosing its format.

For images and charts, make the relevant information available in text. Consider what the visual contributes and how a reader who cannot see it will obtain that information.

Check the document through use

Run the available accessibility checker and address its findings. The Department for Transport also recommends manual checks. A useful additional exercise is to ask a colleague unfamiliar with the draft to locate three answers and explain the next action.

Watch where they hesitate. A missed heading, an unexplained term or a confusing sequence gives you a specific editing task. Treat this exercise as feedback on usability, alongside appropriate accessibility testing.

Before release, confirm that the title identifies the subject, the headings describe the contents and the instructions can be followed. A useful document gives its reader a clear route from the question they arrived with to the action they need to take.

Sources and further reading

• GOV.UK: Publishing accessible documents
• Department for Transport: Use MS Word to create an accessible document
• W3C Web Accessibility Initiative: Writing for Web Accessibility