Scan-ability

What is Scan-ability?

Definition

Scan-ability refers to the capacity text has to be scanned by readers. Writers of digital media must pay special attention to scan-ability because readers of digital writing are known to be easily distracted, impatient, and unwilling to read huge blocks of text. Scan-ability is crucial for digital writing because, without maintaining a good level of it, readers will not pay attention to your work.

Three-second rule

In Writing for Digital Media, Brian Carroll explains Dale Dougherty's Three-second Rule. The Three-second Rule "holds that a site has approimately three seconds to download properly, present itself and engage the viewer . . . or else." This rule exists because of the tendency online readers have to scan digital text.

Layering content

To make your blog scannable, layering content is a necessity. Brian Carroll says "layering is a response to the reality, the documented fact that Web users do not read." Layering content involves working with text, the visual qualities of text, multimedia, and linking.