Digital style guide

Acronyms

Spell out acronyms the first time you use them, and put the acronym in brackets after

✔ You may suffer from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) .

Once you have introduced an acronym by spelling it out, all future use should be acronym only

You can use well-known acronyms without spelling them out the first time

✔ They deliver throughout the UK.

Active voice

Make your sentences active

✔ We will follow up all complaints.

❌ All complaints will be followed up.

Bullet points

Bullet points start with a lower case, unless they begin with a name

✔ •  we will move the office to Sutton

✔ •  Sutton is beautiful

Bullet points never end with a full stop or semicolon

Bullet points should not use more than one sentence per bullet

Capitalisation

Never use upper case for emphasis or to stress importance

❌ Most important to us are the Residents.

Never use block capitals

❌ Sutton is GREAT.

Capitalise job titles

✔ We welcomed our new Chief Executive.

Capitalise specific directorates and teams

✔ She has joined the Resources Directorate.

✔ Sutton Council has many directorates.

Always capitalise ‘Council’

✔ The Council is pleased to announce…

eg, etc and ie

Instead of ‘eg’, use ‘such as’, ‘for example’, ‘like’ or ‘including’

✔ They sell a lot of fruit, such as apples and oranges.

❌ They sell a lot of fruit, e.g. apples and oranges.

‘etc’ can usually be avoided by rewriting the sentence or by using ‘such as’, ‘for example’ or ‘including’ instead

‘ie’ can usually be avoided by rewriting the sentence or by using ‘meaning’ or ‘that is’ instead.

Links

Use link text that identifies the purpose of the link

People using screen readers often navigate websites by tabbing from link to link, without reading the surrounding content.

✔ You can register for the event on their website.

❌ To register for the event click here.

✔ You should visit our new website.

❌ You should visit our new website.

Special characters

Avoid ‘!’ in all cases

❌ This sentence is very important!

Avoid ‘&’ in all cases

✔ This issue is pressing and important.

❌ This issue is pressing & important.

Use ‘%’ for percentages

❌ Turnover rose by 40 percent.

Use @ for email addresses only

❌ The meeting will take place @ Grosvenor House.

Use ‘ (single quote) when referring to words or publications

✔ ‘Schadenfreude’ is a strange concept.

✔ Download the publication ‘Council tax rates’

Use “ (double quote) for direct quotations

✔ He said repeatedly “I love Sutton”.

GDS style guide

You can find more guidance on writing content at GOV.UK content design guidance.