House, hunting

An "F" for these Web sites?

          While searching for news about the recent Native American Business Alliance Fund conference in Michigan, I came across this unrelated gem on the PRWeb News Release Newswire:

13 of the World's Top 20 Universities Misspell "University" on Their Own Website

        Sydney, Australia (PRWEB via PRWebDirect) July 8, 2009 -- An analysis by enterprise website spell checking platform spellr.us has revealed that on average, 14.2% of web pages on the world's most prestigious university websites contain at least one genuine spelling error.

        The annual spellr.us Higher Education Online Content Survey found that these spelling mistakes ranged from obscure, easy to overlook slip-ups to obvious and embarrassing blunders.

        The word "university," for example, was misspelled by 13 of the world's top 20 educational institutions. Other significant errors included Harvard Law School's misspelling of "professor" on a primary navigation menu, and Ivy League neighbour Yale University's misspelling of "Yale University" (see attached images).

        The survey results were gathered using spellr.us, which automatically examined the first 1,000 pages of the world's top 20 universities (as ranked by the Times Higher Education -- Quacquarelli Symonds Report) for spelling errors, broken links and broken images. McGill University had the fewest errors, with 34, and Duke University had the most, with 300.

        The top 5 misspelled words on the websites were "accommodation," "technology," "university," harassment," and "research." Kevin Garber, spellr.us general manager, commented: "The average number of errors found on each site shocked us. A University's website is often the first point of contact for prospective students and staff. Spelling errors can convey sloppiness and lack of attention to detail, which can detract from the message that a high quality education is on offer.

        "And remember," he continued, "we had our software examine only the first 1,000 pages of each site. As most universities contain more than 1000 pages, it's safe to assume that the results would have been even worse, had we analysed every page of each site. The errors spellr.us identified undoubtedly represent only a small percentage of total spelling errors."

        Garber did, however, explain that the number of errors was not necessarily due to lack of effort on the University's part. "Without the right tools, spell checking a website is very tricky - often impossible. Content integrity on university websites can be particularly challenging because there are usually multiple contributors, multiple websites and a large volume of frequently changing content."

        All surveyed universities are invited to contact spellr.us for a list of their website spelling errors, broken links and broken images.

        For a list of the surveyed universities please visit the following link: http://spellr.us/news

        About the Higher Education Online Content Survey: This survey was conducted by the automated spelling, link and image checking platform, spellr.us. It analysed 1000-page samples from the websites of the world's top 20 universities (as ranked by the Times Higher Education - Quacquarelli Symonds (THE-QS) Report). Results were adjusted to exclude false positives, and only genuine errors were included in the survey.

        About spellr.us: spellr.us is a provider of a specialist website spelling, link and image checking platform. The platform was designed for websites with complex content requirements, such as those managed by corporations, online publishers, universities and government agencies. It can also be used with smaller websites. spellr.us utilises its proprietary spellFOCUS technology to assist with identification of genuine errors and minimise false positives. spellr.us is based in Sydney Australia, and its clients include a wide range of organisations in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. For more information: http://www.spellr.us Contact: Kevin Garber spellr.us General Manager + 61 2 9232 3722 www.spellr.us

Note 1: Misspelled words damage the credibility of writers and published work. Often, they'll earn either an "F" or a marked-down grade on a college or university student's paper. 

Note2: Australian style differs from U.S. style (organisations, for instance, instead of organizations. I edited just a few things here and there, making, for instance, "1000" read "1,000." No commas in totals drives me nuts. It's beyond me why more people these days are writing numbers without commas. Clarity is good, and commas provide clarity.

Keeping up with language

        Simon Dumenco catches us up with "the new new-media lexicon" in his Ad Age column. A few examples:

        Digg -- v. To impose one's dubious taste on a larger group. Usage: The rest of us wanted to go to Denny's, but Bob digged us and we ended up at Chuck E. Cheese.

        Huffpo' -- adj. Impoverished due to the total devaluation of content (derived from the traditional abbreviation of the Huffington Post). Usage: I used to have a thriving writing career, but now I'm huffpo'.

        Micropayment -- n. 1. A media-industry salary; 2. A newly reduced paycheck that you're just relieved isn't $0 (yet).

        Statusphere -- n. A virtual version of high school for insecure old people. Usage: He's totally huge in the statusphere -- he's got 1,154 followers!

        Tweet -- v. 1. To quickly bore. Usage: Hand me the remote, this show is already tweeting me. 2. To describe the uninteresting food you have just eaten to uninterested parties; from the Latin, tweetarium (a Greek diner menu).

        Zzzzzzz -- n. A typical response to a tweet.

Shot in the foot by a loaded word

        Please read the following and consider your reaction:

        "Perryman admitted, however, that future periods of rapid and slow development are almost certain depending on circumstances as diverse as technological developments, natural gas prices, geology and demand for natural gas."

        What went through your mind regarding Perryman? If you thought Perryman was coming clean about a truth he had obscured deliberately, join the club.

        The sentence's use of "admitted" conjures that sort of reader reaction. No? Yes?

        Such is the power of "loaded" words -- usages that project all sorts of judgment, misperception and other problems. As noted in an earlier post on this blog, every effort should be taken by writers and editors to avoid loaded words and the inaccurate, credibility-damaging problems they cause for everyone concerned -- readers, writers, editors, sources and posterity, which is stuck forever with a warped piece of archived content. If used deliberately, loaded words constitute a tool of unethical practice known as lying.

        Fact is, (Ray) Perryman, a world-class economist, wasn't "admitting" anything even though an area newspaper published a story saying so. He was discussing an issue regarding the outlook for natural gas and the energy market. A fair, accurate and balanced verb would have corrected the situation by simply using "said."

        Admittedly, "admitted" carries color and force, two characteristics of marvelously readable copy. But in this instance, it's a loaded word that shoots credibility in the foot.