Guide to good symbol content

A checklist for creating symbolised content

Choosing your method of symbolising:

  • Do you know what it is that you want to write?
  • Who will read it?

    Just symbol readers?
    Symbol readers and non-symbol readers?

  • In what media will your content be available?

    E.g. A leaflet? A letter? A website?

Which method of symbolising have you chosen?

  • Fully symbolised
  • Symbol summaries
  • Content highlights
  • Key Symbols

  • Does your choice of media have enough space for your symbolised content?

Point to rememberDon’t forget that symbolised text takes up more room than non-symbolised text.

If you are using key symbols or a content highlight…

  • Do your symbols illustrate the key information?
  • Are your symbols as transparent as possible? (See Widgit structure)
  • Does each symbol accurately represent the meaning of the concept?

(See an example of the two different symbols used to indicate different gyms in a leisure centre in Creating key symbols)

  • Are your symbols consistent with each other?
  • If you are creating a symbol highlight, do the symbols form a logical sequence?

If you writing symbol summary or fully symbolised content…

Writing your content

Point to rememberMaking a bulleted list of the points you want to include is a good starting point.

  • Are your sentences as short as possible?
  • Is your language appropriate for your readers?
  • Have you checked your content’s simplicity by saying it aloud?

If you are creating symbol summaries…

  • Do your summaries cover all of the key information in your document?
  • Are your summaries no more than four lines long?

Symbolising your content

  • Does each symbol accurately represent the word’s meaning in the context of the sentence?

Point to rememberRemember you can retext symbols to help find the most appropriate image

  • Do the symbols cover all of the main information points in the sentence?
  • Have you turned off any abstract symbols unnecessary to your reader?
  • Have you turned on/off any qualifier graphics relevant to your readers level?
  • Are all your symbols consistent with each other?
  • Does your layout reinforce the punctuation?
  • Have you used no more than eight symbols per line?
  • Can you clearly see the beginning and end of every sentence?

Point to rememberRead just the symbolised words aloud to make sure you have symbolised all the information-carrying words. Look at just the symbols without the text; do they make sense?

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