Words
This is a web page.

    
    There's not much here.
    Just words.
    And you're reading them.
    
      We've become obsessed with fancy designs, responsive layouts, and scripts
      that do magical things.
    
    
      But the most powerful tool on the web is still words.
    
    
      I wrote these words, and you're reading them: that's magical.
    
    
      I'm in a little city in British Columbia; you're probably somewhere else.
      I wrote this early in the morning, June 20th, 2013; you're reading it at a
      different time. I wrote this on my laptop; you could be reading this on
      your phone, a tablet or a desktop.
    
    
      You and I have been able to connect because I wrote this and
      you're reading it. That's the web. Despite our
      different locations, devices, and time-zones we can connect
      here, on a simple HTML page.
    
    
      I wrote this in a text editor. It's 6 kB. I didn't need a Content
      Management System, a graphic designer, or a software developer. There's
      not much code on this page at all: just simple markup for paragraphs,
      hierarchy, and emphasis.
    
    
      I remember teaching my daughter to code HTML when she was 8. The first
      thing she wrote was
      a story about a squirrel. She
      wasn't "writing HTML";
      she was sharing something with the world. She couldn't
      believe that she could write a story on our home computer, and then
      publish it for the world to see. She didn't care about HTML; she cared
      about sharing her stories.
    
    You are still reading.
    
      Think about all the things you could communicate with a simple page like
      this. If you're a businessperson, you could sell something. If you're a
      teacher, you could teach something. If you're an artist, you could show
      something you've made.
      And if your words are good, people will read them.
    
    
      If you're a web designer, I challenge you to think about the words first.
      Instead of starting with a style guide or a Photoshop mockup,
      start with words on a page.
    
    
      What do you have to say? If you don't know, there's not much use in adding
      all that other cruft. Just start with one page, with a
      single focus. Write it and publish it, and then iterate on that.
      Every time you're about to add something, ask yourself: does this help me
      communicate better? Will that additional styling, image, or hyperlink give
      my audience more understanding? If the answer is "no," don't add
      it.
    
    
      At its heart, web design should be about words. Words
      don't come after the design is done. Words are the beginning, the
      core, the focus.
    
    Start with words.
    
      Cheers,
      Justin Jackson
      @mijustin
    
    
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    Translations
    
      
        Arabic – thanks to
        Muayyad Jesry
      
      
        Slovenian – thanks to
        Leon Škrilec
      
      
        Catalan – thanks to
        Jordi Nebot
      
      
        Afrikaans – thanks to
        Leo Gopal
      
      
        Brazilian Portuguese –
        thanks to Heitor Belloni
      
      
        Chinese – thanks to
        Zhuangda Zhu
      
      
        Czech – thanks to
        Jan Hajek
      
      
        Danish – thanks to
        Anders Gerlev Hansen
      
      
        Dutch – thanks to
        Frank Schaap
      
      
        Filipino – thanks to
        Nearamos
      
      
        French – thanks to
        PLMD and
        Alexis Kauffmann
      
      
        German – thanks to
        Yannick Ihmels and
        David Lucas
      
      
        Greek – thanks to
        Yiannis Konstantakopoulos
      
      
        Hebrew – thanks to
        Shachaf Rodberg
      
      
        Hungarian – thanks to Hüperión
        Fordítói Műhely
      
      
        Indonesian - thanks to
        Darmawan
      
      
        Italian – thanks to
        Pixline
      
      
        Japanese – thanks to
        Elle Kasai
      
      
        Korean – thanks to
        Hong Minhee
      
      
        Maltese – thanks to
        Vanessa Galea
      
      
        Mongolian – thanks to
        Ocho
      
      
        Norwegian – thanks to
        Dan-Simon Myrland
      
      
        Persian – thanks to
        Kamyar
      
      
        Polish – thanks to
        Gregory Wolanski
      
      
        Romanian – thanks to
        Lucian Pricop
      
      
        Russian – thanks to
        Ярослав Wебком
      
      
        Spanish – thanks to
        Ramón García-Pérez
      
      
        Swedish – thanks to
        Erik Stattin
      
      
        Turkish – thanks to
        Opereyşın
      
      
        Vietnamese – thanks to
        Nam Quach
      
    
    
  

