Are you reading this?
How about this?
- This is a little out of the ordinary, but I bet you’re reading.
- Maybe you aren’t.
- How can we tell?
Readers scan in very predictable ways and patterns. The basics are pretty simple. We jump to bolded text and don’t expect to see giant, bold statements. We read with a different emphasis when text is italicized. We scan immediately to images 
on the page. Big, long paragraphs **like this one** are tiresome to readers and often get skipped while scanning. Formatting text in an unexpected way can throw your reader off, but using page formatting strategically can guide your reader through a page and help keep them engaged. Some of the tactics used in best-practice writing for the web may also be useful for academic writing and assignment construction.
You’re definitely reading this.
Most of the research being done around page scanning patterns is being done so with web content, not academia, in mind. However, some of the research done for web content writing may be helpful as you write or create resources for students.
