In a dramatic change expected to improve the Bush administration’s communications with the media and the public, the White House has begun to use boldface type in its press briefings posted to its Web site.

“We’re making important progress,” said pres secretary Scott McClellan on Thursday.

Previously, press briefings posted on the White House Web site appeared in plain text. Now they include important words, such as Abramoff, highlighted in boldface.

The White House had previously come under criticism for its Web site, with users saying the press briefings and other materials were too hard to read and skim quickly to find the most important parts. But the site’s webmaster spent several weeks researching Web usability best practices in order to improve the experience, according to sources familiar with the Web site’s operations.

The Bush administration has a plan for Web site victory, the President has previously said, but refused to elaborate on details of the plan.

Clearly the work isn’t finished, though, as entire paragraphs now turn blue with underlines when hovering the mouse over them, confusing users into believing every paragraph might be a link.

“Remember, the plan we have in place is something that is dynamic. We adjust and adapt. We learn from experience. Where there have been mistakes, we have worked to fix those problems and move forward,” McClellan said.