10 Tips For Clean DEV Articles!
Tags: codenewbie, beginners, writing, a11y
Published: 2021-08-08 07:37:52

So this is a bit of fun on a Sunday in response to [this article on clean code](https://dev.to/cleancodestudio/10-tips-for-clean-code-4nm6) from @cleancodestudio 😋.

**To be clear**, the tips in the article are great, this is purely a post pointing out that tweet threads as DEV articles don’t work!

There is no hate or malice here, I am just mischievous (as most of you know) and the article had loads of **accessibility issues** caused by embedding a load of tweets...so you know I am going to have to say something being the "angry accessibility guy"!

Anyway, it is silly with an important message, please treat it as such!

Here is my list of 10 tips for clean articles on DEV! (I would suggest going to read the article first or read them at the same time, otherwise some of these points may not make sense!)

## The Tips
1. Don't repeat the article title immediately within the article body, we know what we are reading and it just adds noise
2. Don't add alt descriptions to decorative images (the down arrows) used as spacers, instead do `![](imageURL)` and leave the `alt` attribute empty - they add nothing for people who use a screen reader and get annoying the 3rd, 4th, 5th etc. time.
3. Better yet just don't use spacer images, if you structure your article correctly with headings it will be easy to read.
4. Including more than one or two tweets from the same account means a lot of repeated information for people who use a screen reader. This makes your article hard to read and tiring, instead copy the content of the tweets into your post.
5. Use headings for each point or, as I am doing, an ordered list to make navigating the items easier.
6. Put all 10 tips within the article itself (which you can do if you do things properly, there is a reason DEV stops you adding more than 7 tweet embeds!). Having to hunt through the comments for the remaining tips is annoying (due in part to how the DEV comment system works in ordering things).
7. On a similar point, comments can change order in the DEV comments section so don't use it for anything that that relies on the order of the comments to make sense.
8. Don't use 10 fire emojis in a row in a comment, for a person who uses a screen reader the effect is quite annoying, surely 3 or 4 would get the point across? 🔥🔥🔥🔥 Don't try and "outfire" people without thinking of how that affects others!
9. There are no word limit counts on DEV, you can use full sentences to explain things, rather than having to worry about every character. Enjoy this new found power to express yourself properly and make things flow! 
10. You are responsible for the quality of your posts, not DEV, not your manager, **you**. So use the extra tools at your disposal to turn tweet threads into high quality posts that everyone can enjoy.

## The End
Obviously this may all be a bit of fun but the **points are all valid and important** (I might have had to stretch a little on the last two, maybe 8 valid tips and a coupler of filler tips - but that wouldn't make a good title now would it? 🤣).

**Advice for everyone:** put some effort in to formatting your articles properly, it makes them easier to read and also has the added bonus of including everyone in the conversation!

And yes, for those of you who read the original article, I did even copy the cover image style and design, if you are going to copy someone's work **do it right**! 🤣

## Bonus Tip 11
Always have a bonus tip, people seem to love that!

My bonus tip is to follow @[cleancodestudio on Twitter](https://twitter.com/cleancodestudio), I just have as they put great tips out!

Oh and I have few followers (although I only started using Twitter again this week), so you could always follow @[InHuOfficial](https://twitter.com/InHuOfficial) if you fancy it, my silliness will continue there.

Hope this article made you smile and I hope you are having a great weekend!

## Update
@cleancodestudio has copied this post style and content in a funny and engaging way, while still managing to produce a great set of programming related quotes! You should check it out!

{% post https://dev.to/cleancodestudio/10-insightful-programming-wisdom-quotes-18ba %}