House style guide
for publications
and the web
July 2005
Contents
The aim of the house style guide is to ensure consistency and
professionalism in all our published materials, including those published
internally, on the intranet and on our website. Our presentation style is
open and accessible, using plain English. Use the active tone of voice
as much as possible. If you need any advice about writing, particularly
about using plain English, please get in touch with the Publications team.
General
Standard text about the organisation
The following statement must be visible on all financial and legal
documents, publications and websites.
“The Big Lottery Fund is the joint operating name of the New
Opportunities Fund and the National Lottery Charities Board (which
made grants under the name of the Community Fund).”
Welsh version:
“Cronfa Fawr y Loteri yw enw cydweithredol y Gronfa Cyfleoedd
Newydd a Bwrdd Elusennau’r Loteri Genedlaethol (a oedd yn
dosbarthu grantiau dan enw’r Gronfa Gymunedol).”
This house style guidance is for both internal and external
communication. However, there is separate guidance for Board papers.
2
Specific rules about punctuation
10
Numbering
11
Avoiding offence
13
Guidelines for writing about
Northern Ireland
16
Guidelines for increasing readability
17
Guidelines for writing for the web
22
Summary of writing guidelines
23
Preferred styles
24
Any publications need to go through the publications approval
process and a publications request form must be provided seven
weeks before the publication is needed.
1
General
Fonts
Use Foundry Sterling-Book for all
printed materials.
Arial should be used for emails
and the web.
Point size
12
Alignment
All our documents are aligned left
with a ragged right hand margin.
Italics
Italics should not be used.
Bold
Use bold text for emphasis,
headings and sub-headings only.
Capitals
Do not write entire words or
sentences in capitals. Use bold
text for emphasis.
Underlining
Do not underline text, except to
show a link in an online document.
Line spacing
Use single line spacing.
Paragraph layouts
Separate paragraphs with a
line space.
2
Do not indent the first lines
of paragraphs.
Do not split words at the end of
lines – do not use hyphens.
Do not leave single words (known
as widows or orphans) at the top
of a page or the bottom of a
paragraph on their own.
Bullet points
Using bullet points is a good
way of breaking down complex
information into manageable
chunks, but there is a danger of
over-using them.
For example, this paragraph
is correct.
Keep bulleted lists short. The idea
is to break up the information,
not to add more. If you find
yourself using long sentences in
long bulleted lists, then you
would be better to rewrite your
text in paragraphs.
Columns
If text is being set in columns,
the margin between the columns
should clearly separate them.
Bullet points should only be used
to itemise a list. Make sure that
there is an introductory sentence
before starting the list.
For example, this paragraph is
incorrect.
Headings
Headings should be in bold and
have an initial capital only
(unless a title is used in the
heading). Do not put a full stop
at the end of a heading.
Page numbering
When needed, put page numbers
at the foot of the page in the outer
left or right hand corner. Use the
same font as the main document.
Bullet points can be used for three
types of list.
A list in which each point is a
complete sentence
The introductory sentence ends
with a full stop, each bullet point
starts with a capital and ends
with a full stop. For example:
The speaker made three points.
l
l
l
A list which is part of a
continuous sentence
The introductory sentence ends
with a colon, each bullet point
begins with a lower case letter,
the final point ends with a full
stop, the others do not need
closing punctuation – the line
break is enough. For example:
If you are the last person to
leave the office, please make
sure that you:
l
turn out all the lights
l lock the outside door
l hand the key in at reception.
A list made of short points
As with the previous section, the
introductory sentence ends in a
colon, the points start lower case
and the final bullet ends with a
full stop. For example:
When you come to sit the
examination please bring with you:
l
l
l
a pen
a pencil
an A4 writing pad.
Rainforests are being destroyed.
Many species are disappearing.
Humanity’s greed is to blame.
3
Email and web addresses
Do not place a full stop after an
email or website address, even if
it falls at the end of a sentence.
Phone and fax numbers
Please put the correct spacing
between phone, textphone and
fax numbers. See examples:
London:
020 7211 1800
Scotland:
0141 242 1400
Wales:
029 2067 8200
Northern Ireland:
028 9055 1455
Please note: The Big advice line is
spaced: 0845 4 10 20 30
Shortening words
Common abbreviations such as
eg, ie, & and etc should be used
sparingly and only if they make
reading less cumbersome.
Use for example or such as, not eg.
Use that is, not ie.
Use and, not &.
Use and so on, not etc.
Never use etc after eg.
Avoid using contractions, unless
they are in a quote. For example:
we will, not we’ll; it is, not it’s.
4
Do not put full stops between
eg and ie (not i.e. and e.g.).
Abbreviations and acronyms
Avoid using abbreviations and
acronyms where possible in
documents for external use. You
cannot assume that your
readers will know what you
mean. This includes overhead
transparencies as well as letters
and application packs.
However, if you repeatedly use
a long title, such as Department
for Culture, Media and Sport,
abbreviating it makes for easier
reading. In these cases write the
title in full when it is first used,
put the abbreviation in brackets
next to this and then use the
abbreviation thereafter.
BIG
Write the Big Lottery Fund in full
at the first mention; thereafter
refer to it as BIG. Do not use BLF
or the Fund.
NOF or CF
The new brand, Big Lottery Fund,
was launched on 1 June 2004. Use
the new name in all of our work.
If you need to refer to New
Opportunities Fund or the
Community Fund, write the
names in full. Do not abbreviate
them to NOF or CF.
Documents
Adverts
A style of recruitment advert has
been designed and any other
print adverts must conform to it
in style. It is the responsibility of
each department to book their
adverts with the designer at least
two weeks in advance and to
determine the size, deadline and
format required by the publication
they wish to advertise in.
All adverts published in Wales
will contain the Wales bilingual
logo. Those posts for which
Welsh is essential will be in Welsh
only. All other adverts in Wales
will be bilingual.
Compliments slips
Use these where there is no need
for a covering letter, for example
if someone wants a publication.
If you need to write on both sides
of the compliments slip, you
probably need to write a letter.
Like all other documents that we
send out, the compliments slip
should be traceable to the person
who sent it, in case there are any
queries. Make sure that your
name and the date are both
written on the compliments
slip legibly.
Memos
The memo template should not
be used to send memos outside
the organisation, as it does not
have full contact details on it.
Memos are for internal
communication only.
Overhead acetates and
PowerPoint presentations
Overhead and PowerPoint
presentations should have a
minimal amount of text on them;
they are intended to highlight the
main points only. They are not a
stand alone presentation. The
text should be large and clear
and the words simple.
Electronic presentations should
be preferred to using acetates
on an overhead projector
whenever possible.
5
Names
Use forename and surname at
first use and avoid initials unless
the person being written about
prefers to be known by a set of
initials and surname. For example:
Steve Jones, Dr David Owen,
and Professor Mary Smith.
Thereafter, use the title followed
by the surname: Mr Jones, Dr
Owen and Professor Smith. It
may not be necessary to use
Professor – check with the
person in question.
Use Ms instead of Miss or Mrs
unless the person written about
prefers to be referred to by
marital status.
Job titles
Chair and Chief Executive begin
upper case when referring to the
Chair or Chief Executive of BIG,
otherwise lower case.
Director and president (of an
association) begin lower case.
All other job titles begin lower
case. For example: press officer.
6
Brand names
Do not use a brand name in place
of a product description. For
example: use photocopy not Xerox.
Grant programmes
All grant programmes’ first and
main words begin upper case. For
example: Healthy Living Centres.
Capitals and lower case
Proper names (names used for a
person, place or organisation)
and full titles begin upper case.
A simple way of deciding if a
word should begin with a capital
is to ask yourself if there is only
one of something. If it is unique,
it usually starts with a capital. For
example: a committee and the
Board; social services and
Islington Social Services.
This also applies to specific
projects. For example: Tower
Hamlets Healthy Living Centre.
Do not capitalise whole words
because it makes them harder to
read, particularly when used in
continuous text.
Book and other titles
The titles of books, magazines,
films, television programmes,
published papers and reports
should be in single quotation
marks, in plain text. The words
of the title should be upper or
lower case as in the original
publication. For example:
‘bigtimes’; ‘The Guardian’.
Lottery distributor
Always use a capital ‘L’ to refer
to the Lottery. Use a lower case
‘d’ to refer to distributor.
Government, legislatures
and departments
The British Government begins
upper case when talking about
‘the Government’. However, put
government in lower case when
talking about governments in
general or, say, a government
report. Parliament and the
Cabinet also begin upper case.
The House of Commons and the
House of Lords begin upper case.
Always write Treasury, not
the Treasury.
You can find the full or correct
title of government departments
and a wide range of other
government-related bodies at
the Central Office of Information
website: www.coi.gov.uk
Departments of state
UK government ministries (but
not ministers) take initial capitals
– Cabinet Office, Department
for Culture, Media and Sport.
Government ministers
and officials
The full job titles of British
Government ministers and Law
Officers begin upper case –
Chancellor of the Exchequer,
Secretary of State for Health.
Acts and bills in Parliament
Acts and bills are in capitals
when using the full title. For
example: the Mental Health Act
1967 or the Mental Health Bill.
Use capitals for the Act or Acts
of Parliament. But use lower
case for the bill, white paper,
green paper.
7
Companies
On first mention, use the full
title and use the appropriate
contractions, eg plc. Afterwards
use the shortest comprehensible
form. Companies whose names
are commonly abbreviated
should be referred to in the
abbreviated form throughout.
Organisations
The names of organisations should
begin upper case. For example:
Save the Children.
Seasons
Seasons always begin lower case.
Geographical locations
North, south, east and west
begin lower case. However,
standard regions of Britain should
begin upper case.
In UK-wide publications please
specify which country you are
referring to when naming some
regions. For example: If you
mention the South West, you
need to clarify whether you are
referring to England or Wales.
8
Use inner London, not Inner
London. Greater London begins
upper case because it is the
name of a county.
Use Yorkshire and the Humber,
not Yorkshire and Humber.
Location
Large towns and cities do not
normally need any more detail on
their locations. But the county
should be added for smaller or less
obvious places. This also applies to
districts of large cities. If the
location is London, do not assume
everyone will know where it is –
spell it out. Use Camden, London
or the National Maritime Museum
in London. Keep the reference as
brief as possible. Only give a full
address when the reader needs it
for a particular reason.
American spelling
Use British not American spelling.
For example: adviser not advisor;
colour not color; organisation
not organization.
Publications for distribution
in Wales
All public, UK-wide documents
need to be produced in Welsh.
Bilingual tip-and-turn documents
should be produced rather than
separate English and Welsh ones
wherever possible.
If a publication is more than 28
pages in English, monolingual
versions will be produced.
Bilingual logo
Always use the Welsh bilingual
logos on both the English and
Welsh versions of the document.
Foreign words
Foreign language words should
not be used unless there is no
translatable equivalent.
9
Specific rules
about punctuation
Numbering
Accents
Include accents, umlauts and so
on. The exception to this is words
in common English usage, such
as cafe, creche and regime.
Full stops
Do not use full stops to separate
the initials of people’s names, as
in R F X Connor; but put a space
after each initial.
Using numbers
Numbers nine or lower should be
written in full, 10 and above are
written numerically. For example:
five; eight; 15; 34; 105.
Apostrophes
Apostrophes are used to show
possession, for singular and
plural nouns. For example:
partner’s, boss’s, woman’s, child’s
(singular); partners’, bosses’
(normal plural); women’s,
children’s (irregular plural).
Do not use full stops after
abbreviations (Dr, Ms, St, Ave,
Co, Ltd, km, g, etc, the Rev).
The exception to this rule is
when two numbers are used in
the same phrase. In this case, if
one is a numeral, then so should
the other be. For example:
Children between the ages of
6 and 12.
Use apostrophes in expressions
of time such as 12 years’
imprisonment, 200 hours’
community service.
Apostrophes are also used to
show that letters have been left
out, such as don’t or can’t.
However, contractions should not
be used.
Avoid confusing its (a possessive
pronoun) and it’s (short for it is).
Dashes
When using a dash to separate
sentences – like this – use an en
dash (–), not an em dash (—) or
a hyphen (-).
10
Do not use full stops or
spaces between the initials of
organisations, states or countries
(RAF, UK, USA).
Hyphenation
Use a hyphen after a prefix to
stop a word being mistaken for
another word. For example:
co-op and coop; re-form and
reform; re-cover and recover.
Do not use hyphens to split
words at the end of lines.
Quotation marks and
inverted commas
Use double inverted commas (“)
to indicate quotations. For
quotations within quotations, use
a single inverted comma (‘).
Single spaces
Use a single space after a full
stop. Do not use a double space.
First, second and third should be
written as words not 1st, 2nd,
3rd. Use figures for 10th upwards.
When starting a sentence with a
number, spell out the number.
Do not use superscripts such as
11th, instead use 11th for
improved legibility.
Use figures when using a number
with units, such as 5mm.
Write thousand as £1,000. Do
not use £1k.
Spell out million and billion in
full. For example: £25 million,
£4 billion. Do not shorten to £4m.
Roman numerals
Do not use roman numerals.
Percentages
If you use per cent, spell it as
two words: do not use the %
sign, except in tables.
Currency
Always use the £ sign rather
than spelling out pounds. If a
total is less than £1 million, use
£250,000, not £.25 million.
When talking about Euros, be
Numbers over 1,000 have a
sure to use the correct sign, ¤.
comma before the final three digits.
Ages
Spell out numbers under 10 if
Write between 5 and 18 years
used as percentages, like six per
or 5-18 years. Do not write
cent, and with statistics such as
between 5-18 years or from
four million people.
5-18 years.
Again, when mixing numbers
below and above 10, both should
be written as figures, not words.
11
Avoiding offence
Years
Write 1998-99, not 1998/99
or 1998-9. When referring to
years that are in both this and
the last century use all four digits
of both years. For example:
1999-2000.
Write the 1990s, not the 1990’s.
Write 90s, not 90’s. These are
not abbreviations so they do not
have apostrophes.
Time and date
The order is day, month, year.
For example: 1 July 2000. The
number in the date should not
have letters after it – 1, not 1st.
The time should be written as
9.00am or 3.30pm. Do not use
the 24 hour clock.
12
Weights and measures
Weights and measures should
be lower case and abbreviated
as follows:
gram
milligram
kilogram
millilitre
inch
centimetre
ounce
g
mg
kg
ml
in
cm
oz
Do not leave a space between
the number and the abbreviation.
For example: 5kg.
Always use metric measurements
unless it is essential (for instance,
when quoting someone) to use
other systems. Use figures not
words when writing measures.
Age
Do not mention somebody’s age
unless it is strictly relevant.
See examples below:
Do not say
Say
Older people
Older people is the acceptable
form. Do not use old people or
the elderly.
Epileptic
Person with
epilepsy
Wheelchair
bound, in a
wheelchair
Wheelchair
user
Invalid
Disabled person
or people with
disabilities
Young people
Use young people rather than
youth. Use children rather
than kids.
Class
Avoid upper, middle and lower
class. Try to find a non-derogatory
and relevant way of saying what
you want to say in language that
your reader will understand. For
example: low income families.
The disabled, the Disabled people
handicapped, and nonable bodied
disabled people
Mentally
handicapped,
backward
Person with
learning
disabilities
Disability
Use positive language. Avoid
outdated terms that stereotype
or stigmatise. Mention a person’s
disability only if relevant. The
general point is that nobody
should be defined by their
disabilities or conditions.
The blind
Blind and
visually impaired
Deaf; Hearing
Deaf and dumb and speechimpaired
Cancer sufferer
Person living
with cancer
AIDS victim
Person living
with HIV
13
His or her, he or she
Do not use he and his to imply
both sexes. Avoid clumsy
references to his or hers, she or
he, or s/he by using the
plural forms – they, them
and their.
Man
Do not use this to mean the
human race; use people.
Parent
Be careful when using
mother/father to imply either as
the norm for a particular group.
For example: Parent and Toddler
group instead of Mother and
Toddler group. You can also use
lone parent instead of single
mum/dad.
Race
Only mention a person’s skin
Manpower
colour or ethnic origin when it is
Avoid this word altogether. Use
relevant. Use lower case when
staff or workforce. Similarly, do
talking about black or white in
not use manning, use staffing.
reference to groups of people.
When referring to more specific
Men
black and minority ethnic (BME)
Be careful not to use men to
describe a group or workforce. Do groups such as Cypriot, Jewish,
Irish and Turkish, use upper case.
not use words incorporating the
word man or men to imply male
Do not use formulations such as
as the norm. For example: police
whitewash or blacklisting, which
officer instead of policeman; fire
can readily be replaced by others,
fighter instead of fireman. Where such as cover-up or boycott.
possible, use ‘neutral’ terms such
as chair or chairperson.
14
Sex and gender
When used to describe people,
the term sex is used in respect
of discrimination and is
enshrined in law. Therefore
use the term sex in the legal
context (for example, when
referring to anti-discrimination
practice) and the term gender
for all other situations.
Working people, workers
Avoid usage that implies only
those in paid employment work.
Never describe men or women
working in the home full time as
not working, or as unemployed
or dependent husbands and
wives, housewives, and so on.
Sexuality/sexual orientation
Sexuality or sexual orientation
(the legally recognised term)
refers to the type of relationship
people seek. Use gay and
lesbian, not homosexual.
Unemployed people
This is the acceptable form, with
jobless people as an alternative.
Do not refer to the unemployed.
15
Guidelines for writing
about Northern Ireland
Use these guidelines when
producing documents about
Northern Ireland. We want to
avoid situations where we are
criticised for using language that
could cause offence to people in
any community. Therefore it is
essential that we remain as
neutral as possible when reporting
events in Northern Ireland.
Political opinion
Unionist
This term is used to describe
those who wish to see the union
with Britain maintained. The
majority of those people who are
from the Protestant community
are Unionist. It should be noted
that not all Unionists support
Loyalist groups.
Do not abbreviate Northern
Ireland to NI – write it out in full.
Nationalist
This term is used to describe
those who hold a long-term wish
for the reunification of Ireland.
The majority of those people who
are from the Catholic community
are Nationalist. It should be noted
that not all Nationalists support
Republican groups.
Geography
The term Northern Ireland should
be used, never: the North of
Ireland, the North, Ulster, the Six
Counties, the Province.
When referring to Derry or
Londonderry, use the form:
Derry/Londonderry.
Religion
Never use the term Roman
Catholic – Catholic is enough.
Always steer clear of identifying
areas by religion unless it is
absolutely necessary.
16
Republican
In a Northern Ireland context the
term Republican describes those
who support the establishment of
a United (32 county) Ireland.
Loyalist
In a Northern Ireland context the
term Loyalist refers to those who
support the British Crown.
Guidelines for
increasing readability
Inside out/outside in
There are many perspectives you
can use in your writing. Two that
are worth considering are known
as inside out and outside in.
Inside out is where the writer
views the world from inside the
organisation, looking out at the
rest of the world. Many people
who are asked to write about
their company will use the
inside out approach, as it
seems to be the most obvious
and straightforward way of
presenting information.
Outside in writing needs more
thought. It is achieved when
writers imagine themselves to
be outside their company looking
in at it.
The best way of understanding
the differences between these
two styles is to look at the two
columns below. The left-hand
column gives an example of what
a typical inside out approach
might focus on. The right-hand
column shows what its outside in
counterpart might be.
Inside out
Outside in
Company
objectives
Customer
needs
How we can
What we have
help the
achieved
customer
Products from Solutions for
us
you
Features of
our products
Benefits of
using our
products
Or to look at it another way,
compare the following paragraphs:
Inside out
“The Activities for Young People
programme was launched by us
in August. By 2004 BIG will have
committed £38.75 million to
projects in England that will
provide activities for school
leavers, particularly those at risk
of becoming out of touch with
education, training and
employment opportunities.”
17
Outside in
“Many young people have no
plans when they leave school and
can miss out on training and
employment. Because of a £38.75
million grant they will have the
chance to take part in a range of
challenging activities and receive
help and advice on their future.”
Use active verbs
To explain the difference between
active and passive verbs, we
need to look at how a sentence
fits together.
You can see that by making the
sentence passive, we have had
to introduce the words ‘was’
and ‘by’ and the sentence
becomes clumsier.
In sentences written in the active
voice, the subject performs the
action expressed in the verb; the
subject acts.
Keep sentences short
Most experts would agree that
clear writing should have an
average sentence length of
15-20 words.
For example, in the sentence
“Peter watched the television”:
Avoid nominalisations
A nominalisation is a type of
abstract noun – in other words,
it is the name of something that
is not a physical object but a
process, technique or emotion.
Nominalisations are formed
from verbs.
This does not mean making
every sentence the same length.
Be punchy. Vary your writing by
mixing short sentences (like the
last one) with longer ones (like
this one), following the basic
principle of sticking to one main
idea in a sentence, plus perhaps
one other related point.
You may find yourself still
writing the odd long sentence,
especially when trying to explain
a complicated point. However,
look at it and give it a little more
thought – most long sentences
can be broken up in some way.
18
l
the subject is Peter (he is
doing the watching)
l the verb is watched.
With a passive verb the order is
reversed. The subject receives
the action expressed in the verb;
the subject is acted on. The
agent performing the action may
appear in a “by the” phrase.
“The television (subject) was
watched (verb) by Peter (agent)”.
Was watched is a passive verb
here. The sentence says what is
being watched before it says
who is doing the watching.
Verb
Nominalisation
Arrange
Arrangement
Complete
Completion
Fail
Failure
Investigate
Investigation
Introduce
Introduction
Provide
Provision
The problem is that often they are
used instead of the verbs they
come from. And because they are
merely the names of things, they
sound as if nothing is actually
happening in the sentence. Like
passive verbs, too many of them
make writing very dull and heavygoing. Here are some examples.
l
l
l
We had a discussion about
the matter – we discussed
the matter.
There will be a stoppage of
trains by drivers – drivers will
stop the trains.
The implementation of the
method has been done by
a team – a team has
implemented the method.
Use positive language
Always try to emphasise the
positive side of things. For example:
l
So what is the problem
with them?
l
“If you do not send your
payment, we will not be able
to renew your membership
of the scheme” (negative).
“Please send your payment
so that we can renew
your membership of the
scheme” (positive).
19
Concrete vs abstract
Try to use concrete rather than
abstract nouns. In general, people
find it easier to understand
information about concrete
nouns (house, book, brick) than
abstract nouns (integration,
synergy, responsibility).
Use words appropriate to
the reader
When you are talking to your
reader, say exactly what you mean,
using the simplest words that fit.
This does not necessarily mean
only using simple words – just
ones the reader will understand.
Wasteful words
Check for flabby expressions
and try to keep your writing
clean and concise. Some
commonly used wasteful
expressions and their preferred
forms are:
as a result
because
Commonly misspelt words
Do not rely on your computer’s
spell-check. It will not mark errors
such as there/their or spot/post.
Always read documents through
carefully for errors of sense.
Some words that are commonly
misspelt are:
Use ‘you’ and ‘we’
Personalise your writing. This will
help the reader connect more to
what they are reading. Try to call
the reader ‘you’, even if the
reader is only one of the many
people you are talking about
generally. If this feels wrong at
first, remember that you would
not use words like ‘the applicant’
if you were speaking to somebody sitting across from you.
Jargon is a type of language that
is only understood by a particular
group of people, such as an
industry or a club. You can use
jargon when writing to people
who will understand the terms
and phrases; it can be a useful
form of shorthand. But try to
avoid using specialist jargon on
the general public.
at the present time
now
assessment
at this point in time
now
attachment
carry out
do
authorise
consult with
consult
commissioned
in advance of
before
committed
in attendance at
at
complement
in conjunction with
and/or
compliment
in consequence of
because
dependant – noun
Use lists where appropriate
See the ‘Bullet points’ section
earlier for more information on
using lists and bullet points.
in order to
to
dependent – adjective
Here are some examples:
l
Applicants must send us – you
must send us
Be careful not to over-use lists.
l We always tell customers before
we – we will tell you before we
l Advice is available from –
you can get advice from
Similarly, always call your
organisation ‘we’.
in view of the fact that since
discreet
meet with
meet
focused/focusing
with the exception of
except
judgement
with (in) regard to
about
organisation/organise
program (computer)
programme (otherwise)
publicise
separate
summarise
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21
Guidelines for writing
for the web
All writing for the web should
follow our house style, using
plain English. This will mean that:
l
l
l
you will find it faster to write
for the web
users will find it faster to read
what you have written
you will get your message
across more often, more easily
and in a friendlier way.
Understanding the web and
its users
The Internet is widely regarded
as a visual medium but most web
editors recognise that words are
an important element of any site,
perhaps the most important.
Internet users rely on words for
many reasons – it is words that
can answer their questions,
address their concerns and enable
them to carry out research.
Typically web readers are:
l
l
l
l
impatient
selfish
easily bored
disloyal.
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Summary of writing
guidelines
Rather than read every word
carefully, they tend to scan text
for key messages. If nothing
grabs their attention, they will
quickly move on somewhere else.
When they land on a new site,
the question uppermost in their
minds is: “What is in it for me?”
The idea is to give the reader
the feeling that with only a little
effort on their part, they can
acquire a lot of useful information
and to make the reading process
as painless as possible.
Checklist
When writing for the web, have a
checklist of things to watch out
for. This should include:
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
Stop and think before you
start writing. Make a note of
the points you want to make
in a logical order.
Prefer short words. Long
words will not impress your
customers or help your
writing style.
Use everyday English where
possible. Avoid jargon and
legalistic words. Explain any
technical term you have to use.
Keep your sentence length
down to an average of 15-20
words. Try to stick to one main
idea in a sentence.
l
l
l
l
Use active verbs as much as
possible. Write ‘we will do it’,
rather than ‘it will be done
by us’.
Be concise.
Imagine you are talking to
your reader. Write sincerely,
personally, in a style that is
suitable for your expected
audience and with the right
tone of voice.
Always check that your
writing is clear, helpful, human
and polite.
ambiguity
needless repetition
inconsistencies
faulty logic
factual inaccuracies
missing words
misspellings
bad grammar
incorrect punctuation.
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Preferred styles
The following list gives the preferred style for words where there are
two ways of spelling or expressing a particular word or idea.
among
fundraiser
not amongst
avoid using this if possible.
Choose the one that is most
appropriate.
one word
without a hyphen
not firstly. But thereafter
secondly, thirdly and so on.
one word
grant holder
two words
grant-making
hyphenated
healthcare
one word
helpline
Internet
one word
do not use single inverted
commas or hyphens
capital ‘I’
Intranet
capital ‘I’
long-term
hyphenated
online
one word
per cent
two words
self-esteem
hyphenated
short-term
hyphenated
UK-based, UK-wide
hyphenated
website
lower case ‘w’, one word
and/or
childminder
email
first
in kind
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