Carroll 4.2

For this assignment, we are supposed to find an article that needs to include a list. I looked for quite some time and could not find one. I lists are the default way to present information now. Finding an article without lists is the problem. There are certain situations that require a list, present options, giving multiple versions of the same thing, and presenting many items that all fit into the same category.

This doesn't happen all that much, and I think that we've been (or at least I've been) in the web world so much now, that starting a list is second nature to me. I think a much more interesting challenge would be to create a very usable, but very text-heavy website. This blog offers some tips. I think most of us are too quick to start dividing up long blocks of text. I know that as soon as I see more than 250 words strung together in one block my mind almost blocks it out and starts looking for pictures, highlighted or bolded words, or anything else that can help me "read" the text without actually having to read it.

Lists also don't work for every situation because there is too much information to present about each item. Lists don't do much good unless each item is less than 20 words or so. If you've got more to present than that, you should probably just rely on paragraph breaks to visually "chunk" the text.

So I didn't fulfill this assignment the way Carroll told me to. But I feel like I know when to use a list, why to use a list, and more importantly, I understand that a web editor shouldn't use a list only to "break up the text" or add visual interest. A list should serve a purpose and make a lot of information easier to handle.