A - Z style guide

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q S T U V W

A

Abbreviations and acronyms

Write out in full abbreviations and acronyms the first time you use them, followed by the abbreviation in brackets.

You do not need to do this for familiar acronyms like CCTV..?

Accents

You do not need to use accents on foreign words that are commonly used in the English language like cafe.

American and UK English

Use UK English spelling and grammar. For example, use 'organisation' not 'organization', 'neighbourhood' not 'neighborhood', and 'fill in a form', not 'fill out a form'.

Ampersand

Avoid using an ampersand use 'and' instead.

Apostrophes

Use apostrophes to indicate a missing letter or letters (you'll, we're) or a possessive (The leader's speech). See also contractions.

B

Bold

Use bold sparingly, do not use bold to emphasise text.

Using too much will make it difficult for users to know which parts of your content they need to pay the most attention to.

Brackets

Use (round brackets), not [square brackets].

Bullet points

See lists.

C

Capitals

We do not use block capitals as they're difficult for people to read.

We always use sentence case, including page titles.

The exceptions to this are proper nouns, including:

New Forest District Council
titles like Mr, Ms, Dr, Cllr
place names
political parties
Council Tax and Business Rates
name of a committee or meeting such as HR Committee

Do not capitalise:

council
government
seasons
bank holiday

Contact details

Write email addresses in full, in lower case and as a link digital@nfdc.gov.uk

Split numbers into chunks so that they're easier to read and remember. For example:

02380 285 000

Contractions

Positive contractions are okay to use, for example you'll, we're. Avoid using negative contractions like can't, don't and shouldn't.

Avoid should've, could've, would've, they've too. These can also be hard to read.

D

Dates

Dates are written 'day month year' with no punctuation: '14 July 2020'.

Avoid using 'nd' 'st' 'th' and 'rd' except when referring to centuries, anniversaries or positions.

Don't abbreviate months.

If you're referring to date ranges, then use 'to' rather than hyphens or dashes. It should look like this: January to March.

E

eg

Do not use eg, instead use:

for example
such as
like
including

Choose whichever works best in the specific context.

Ellipsis (...)

Do not use it.

etc

Do not use etc.

Exclamation marks

Do not use exclamation marks.

F

FAQs

Do not use FAQs.

Instead, if you know that you are answering a genuine frequently asked question, restructure your content.

FAQ pages make users have to navigate through irrelevant content to see if their question is there, which is frustrating and wastes their time.

Figurative language

Avoid using figurative language such as 'keep your eyes peeled' or 'feeling under the weather'.

Fractions

Spell out and use hyphens for common fractions: 'one-half'.

Friendly URLs

Use no more than 3 descriptive words for friendly URLs. Do not use a hyphen. For example: www.newforest.gov.uk/recyclingandrubbish

See our friendly URL policy for more information.

G

Government

See capitals.

H

Hyphens and dashes

Hyphenate:

re- words starting with e, like re-evaluate
co-ordinate
co-operate

Do not hyphenate:

reuse
online
reorder
reopen
email

Do not use dashes. Either restructure your content or use a comma instead.

I

ie

Do not use ie.

Try writing sentences to avoid the need to use it.

If that is not possible, use an alternative such as 'meaning' or 'that is'.

Italics

Do not use italics.

J

Job titles

Specific job titles and councillors role titles are upper case: Executive Head of Governance and Housing.

Generic job titles and councillors role titles are lower case: executive head.

K

Kilogram

Write as 'kg'.

See measurements.

L

Links

A link should be descriptive of the place it's taking the user.

Do not use text such as 'click here', or anything that does not make sense when read out of context.

Good links should be action orientated, for example, 'Choose an option' or 'Find more information about Council Tax'.

Tell the user if they're leaving our site, for example, 'For more information visit GOV.UK'

Lists

Bullet lists

Use bullet points to break up a list of things. It's easier to read and understand.

Bullets must:

use a lead-in line
use lower case at the start of the bullet
have only one sentence per bullet point, use commas or semicolons to expand on an item

You do not need to use a full stop after the last bullet point.

Example

Do not use black rubbish sacks to dispose of:

garden waste
electrical items
batteries
hazardous waste
bulky household items
knives
tins of paint

Numbered lists

Use a numbered list for a logical sequence of things, like a series of tasks that must be done in a certain order.

They do not need a lead-in line and should be complete sentences that start with a capital letter and end with a full stop.

M

Measurements

Do not use a space: 3,500kg not 3,500 kg.

Money

Use the £ symbol: £65

Do not use decimals unless pence are included: £65.40 but not £65.00

Do not use '£0.xx million' for amounts less than £1 million.

Write out pence in full: calls will cost 8 pence per minute from a landline.

Currencies are lower case.

N

Numbers

We use numerals ('1', '2', '3' and so on) instead of spelling out numbers ('one', 'two, 'three') because people find it easier to scan pages for numerals.

Use commas for numbers over 999, so 1,000 or 8,000,000.

You can use numerals at the start of sentences, for example, '6 councils have signed up.'. If it looks confusing, think about rewording your sentence.

O

On to

Always write as 2 words.

P

Percent

Use % instead of 'percent' or 'per cent', it's easier to read and understand.

Pronouns

When talking about New Forest District Council, use 'we' or 'our', and when talking to a customer, use 'you' and 'your'.

Q

Quotes and speech marks

Single quotes

Use single quotes:

in headlines
for unusual terms
when referring to words
when referring to publications
when referring to notifications such as emails or alerts

Double quotes

Use double quotes in body text for direct quotations.

S

Slashes

Use 'or' instead.

Spaces

Use a single space between words and sentences rather than double spaces.

T

Tables

Only use tables for data.

Telephone numbers

See contact details.

Time

Use the 12 hour clock, so '9am to 5pm'. If you need to include the minutes, write '9.15am'.

Use 'midday' rather than noon, 12noon or 12pm. Use 'midnight' and not '12am'.

Use 'to' in time ranges, not hyphens or dashes: '9am to 10am' (not '9-10am')

U

Underline

Do not underline text.

V

VAT

See abbreviations.

W

Websites

Do not use the prefix 'http://www.' when writing a website address. For example, write newforest.gov.uk