Usability is key for users to get the most out of your content.
This page discusses:
Less is more! The fewer boxes, the better!
Usability tests show that users get overwhelmed with a lot of content, so keep text to a minimum.
Organize your content so that you can have fewer boxes and columns. If your page looks cluttered or if scrolling is excessive, consider reorganizing.
1, 2, and 3 column layouts are all okay to use use.
Keep in mind that a long narrow column can be difficult to read!
A Word document that is properly created is accessible as the user can transform it to suit their needs. You should use structured headings and alt text. To learn more about making your Word documents accessible, please visit the WebAIM article on Word Accessibility. The rules for making PowerPoint accessible are very similar.
A PDF document will only be as accessible as the original document. To learn how to make PDF documents as accessible as possible, please visit the WebAIM article on PDF Accessibility.
Users tend to choose databases based on names. If the name of the database doesn't give a clue as to the content (e.g. Compendex), use descriptive words in or near the database titles.
Example:
Find articles related to...
Organize databases (and resources in general) in order of importance or of value. Users tend to choose the first databases in the list, not the most relevant.