Crafted
Help users find what they need faster with good summaries
1 December 2025
Learn how to write effective page summaries that help readers quickly understand your content and decide to read on or not.
Crafted is a series of tips to make your sites more accessible, usable, and clear. The Isomer team studies these topics and writes each guideline, word by word.
In a rush and need a hand? Try out our Beta Pair Assistant that helps you craft summaries. Do check the summaries that the Assistant produces before using it on your website.
Why do I need a summary?
Pages on government websites are often long and hard to read. A short summary makes it easier to understand what the page is about and whether it’s useful to them.
The goal of a summary is to get people to decide if they want to read the page or not.
💡 Some pages (like very short notices or legal documents) don’t strictly need a summary; we get it too. But we ask for summaries across all Isomer Next sites because a consistent pattern helps people scan confidently.
Even when there might be exceptions, the predictability matters, and it helps everyone get what they need faster.
Dos and Don’ts for a good summary
Dos 👍
Say what matters most to the reader. If there an action the reader can do, make it clear. Explain why the user should read your page.
Example: A page titled "Idea Bank" encouraging people to contribute
Could be better | Better |
|---|---|
“Learn more about our idea bank.” ⚠️ Repeats the title, no added value to reader | “90% of our ideas come from community contributions. Visit our public idea board to share your ideas.” ✅ Clear call-to-action |
Keep it short. Aim for one sentence, max 2.
End the summary with a full stop. This helps users with assistive technologies like screen readers.
Don’ts 👎
Don’t repeat the page title. Summarise what’s inside, not just what it’s called.
Example: A Collection featuring issues from a cultural magazine
Could be better | Better |
|---|---|
“Our bi-annual publication” | “The “Wah! Singapore” report is a bi-annual publication that covers fun community events in Singapore. Download and read the latest edition.” |
Avoid sharing histories or contexts unless they're relevant to the reader.
Example: A page on a food-related policy
Could be better | Better |
|---|---|
“We developed this programme in 2015 to increase food standards in Singapore.” | “Find cooking programmes, top restaurants, and foodie interest groups you can join.” |
Need an extra pair of hands?
Try out our Beta Pair Assistant.
If you need help with crafting summaries, you can try using our Isomer Summary Pair Assistant. The Assistant will ask you about the page’s content and purpose to make sure that it crafts a summary that is relevant.
This Assistant is in experiment. It may be deleted or its logic may be modified without notice. Proofread its output before using on a real website.