The Health Literacy Style Manual - Covering Kids & Families

Formatting and Style
Create a visual invitation
The first thing a reader notices when looking at print material is not
what it says but how it l o o k s—how it is organized visually. Good
design provides a visual invitation to the re a d e r. At best, a welldesigned
document is attractive and appealing; at a minimum, it
looks clean and well org a n i z e d .
A visual invitation is particularly important for people with limited
literacy skills. They may not be enthusiastic about reading and may be
reluctant to tackle it at all. But all readers, skilled and less skilled,
want to be able to look at a document and just know that they’re going
to be able to read and understand it. An inviting format re a s s u re s
them that they can do it.
Formatting supports the organization of the content. It is a tool that
helps readers make sense of the text. Formatting tells the re a d e r
what’s most important, what’s less important, and where to look next.
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