The “What Is” section

The first two articles that Ciara and I put up are: “what is global warming” and “what is sustainability.” We have made a conscious attempt to write keeping in mind web standards, accessibility and usability, linking externally and internally, and other issues like copyright, embedding graphics and videos, etc. But, we also ensure not to lose track of the focus of the site and the audience. So the articles have a nuts and bolts kind of introductory approach.

The first paragraph is in very plain English, with no jargon, minimum links - just explaining the concept to a very lay-person, who has heard the term, but has no clear idea what it’s about. This will keep the reader engaged and a promise of more material will help engage the reader too. The article moves from general to specific, drilling down to what this means in everyday life to a reader (belonging to the demographic described above). The main article has only a few critical links and the article concludes with a more information section - and this contains the bulk of external links, relevant to the article.

Another crucial aspect we have to keep in mind is that the article does not seem to have any agenda (political, commercial, etc) other than to inform. We have to try and be as ethically neutral as possible and not get judgmental about personal or religious ethics. We must not draw on controversies or appear to promote the purchase of goods, special brands, etc; not get too critical of the government, policies, establishment and seem too right- or left-winged. Sticking to these stipulations is critical to ensure that we are authentic and noble in our ways - to impart knowledge. If we don’t come across like this to our key audience, we’ve essentially lost them because they will suspect our motives and lose confidence. Also avoiding complex scientific terminologies, units of measurement, statistics or references to and assumptions on other socio-political standards, conventions, definitions, etc - is something we have to totally avoid. If a term is critical, it must be explained it in the simplest terms. Not doing so will also alienate our readers.