Sentences, verbs, nouns and pronouns

Different features of text help readers to gain information quickly and easily.

A heading or title	Headings and titles tell you what the text is about in a word or short sentence. The title is often at the top of a page and stands out from the rest of the text.
Colour	Colour catches your eye more than black and white. Colour can be used to draw attention to important words or pictures.
Bold print	Bold print draws the reader’s attention to a particular word or words.
Images	Images are pictures. Images add to words in order to give information. Sometimes an image is used instead of words. Images help people who are skimming or scanning a text to find the information they need.
A logo	A logo is an image which is like the badge of an organisation. When you see a logo on the page, you know who has written or sent you the text.
Speech bubbles	Speech bubbles report what someone says. You often see speech bubbles with pictures. They show the words coming out of a person’s mouth.
A list	A list separates different pieces of information so that they are easier to read. Each new item in a list may be shown by a bullet point, a dash or a number.
A map	A map shows you where a place is located, as if you were looking down from an aeroplane. It can provide important information as you find your way around.

Contents page

A contents page lists information under headings. It gives the page number for each section listed

Index

A book index lists words or subjects you can find in a book. The words are given in alphabetical order.

The index gives the page numbers on which you can find each key word or subject in the book.