As I continue to learn about digital content strategy, I continue to encounter fresh surprises, delights, and disappointments.
Implementing Qualitative Criteria
Watching the section of Dr. Kim’s module 3 lecture that addresses how to implement qualitative audit criteria delighted me. Reading subchapter 8.4 of Paula Land’s Content Audits and Inventories also helped me in this regard. Before reading this chapter and watching Dr. Kim’s lecture, I was somewhat unsure about how best to summarize qualitative criteria. I appreciate hearing that two-, three-, and five-point scales can all work effectively to describe qualitative content in a spreadsheet. It was nice to see an example of how this can be implemented in Anna Kaley from Neilson/Norman Group’s video “How To: Content Inventory and Audit”. I plan to implement one or more of these point scales in my future work.
Auditing for Accessibility
Reading an entire chapter dedicated to auditing for accessibility issues in Paula Land’s Content Audits and Inventories surprised and delighted me. I did not expect this topic to be addressed in detail because a complete accessibility audit would exceed the scope of a typical content audit. Descriptive alt text, titles, and headings are important for screen readers to be fully effective for sight impaired users.
Although Content Audits and Inventories does not describe why most elements of accessible design are beneficial, it explains the most important aspects of accessible design very clearly. I particularly appreciate the inclusion of a list of tools for testing site accessibility and the suggestion to test the site with a screen reader. Although I don’t think assessing accessibility will be especially important in my current project, it is always important to keep it in mind. Even if it isn’t central to this particular project, I need to take every chance I get to develop this skill. Assessing accessibility is vital to technical communication because the quality of the content is irrelevant if it’s illegible.
Redundant, Outdated, and Trivial Content
Reading about auditing for redundant, outdated, and trivial content in Content Audits and Inventories and “Content Audits: A Heavy Lift for a Huge Payoff” as well as hearing about it in Anna Kaley from Neilson/Norman Group’s video “How To: Content Inventory and Audit” surprised and disappointed me. I understand why outdated information is a problem, but I expected content producers to have procedures in place to stop redundant or trivial content from being published in the first place. I expect auditing redundant, outdated, and trivial content to be difficult because it requires significant knowledge of the subject matter, the audience, and organizational goals.
Based on how frequently it was mentioned in my course materials, I expect identifying redundant, outdated, and trivial content to be an important skill going forward in my career.
Conclusions
I appreciated receiving clear guidance about implementing qualitative criteria in an audit and auditing for accessibility; I expect these to be valuable skills going forward in my career. It was disappointing to read about the importance of identifying redundant, outdated, and trivial content because I hoped that redundant and trivial content would be edited before publishing. I will make sure to look out for any ROT content now that I know how significant of an issue it can be.