European web designers are churning out poor text legibility, unclear menus and confusing task flows, reveals a recent study by Forrester Research.

Nine top European web design agencies offered two of their best reference sites to the research group for rigorous review. Forrester reported it was surprised at the blunders, which it stated “are all well-researched usability problems, often with known solutions.”

The research group went on to state: “Customer experience experts can fix these problems by simply applying scenario design principles and better standards for text fonts and sizes, and by using web analytics to identify task-flow problem spots.”

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Webcopyplus recently conducted a web poll that asked 215 website owners: Who typically writes your web copy?

The results:

1. I do it myself 74.9% (161)
2. Web designer 12.1% (26)
3. Staff 7% (15)
4. Copywriter 6% (13)

These numbers reveal why the majority of web content is so hyped up, convoluted and difficult to digest.

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Many valuable writing resources are out there, including The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White.

While revisiting this classic, which was originally published in 1918, I was amused by the manner in which writers are encouraged to revise and rewrite their prose:

“Quite often the writer will discover, on examining the completed work, that there are serious flaws in the arrangement of material, calling for transpositions. When this is the case, he can save himself much labor and time by using by using scissors on his manuscript, cutting it to pieces and fitting the pieces together in a better order.”

It makes one appreciate the convenient tools of today: ergonomic keyboards; large, adjustable monitors; fast and friendly document software; spell check; cut and paste features; and so much more.

The concept of a typewriter dates back to 1714, with the first practical one launched by Remington Arms in 1873. While some writers stick to their traditional equipment – such as novelist Danielle Steele, who devotedly uses a 1946 Olympian – fewer and fewer young adults in today’s workforce have come in contact with these trusty machines. May they rest in peace.