Applying these rules will keep our content clear and consistent.
Spell out the first mention and include the abbreviation or acronym in brackets. Repeat for every page so a user joining at any point can understand.
When writing an article, spell out full only the first time. Use upper case for all abbreviations and acronyms. For example:
HR, UK, and NHS are exceptions, as they are so well known.
Do not use full stops in abbreviations: HR and not H.R.
Find out more about accessibility and in particular, how to create accessible documents
Never use an ampersand in place of ‘and’ in text. Most screen readers do not read this character as ‘and’. Some people with lower literacy levels can find ampersands harder to understand than the word 'and'. For most users the word ‘and’ is also easier to skim read.
Where a Health Board includes an ampersand in the logo, replace this with ‘and’ in text. For example:
An apostrophe’s most common use is making a word possessive. When the word ends in an s and it’s singular, you also add an ‘s. If the word ends in an s and is plural add an apostrophe. For example:
Most interfaces include buttons and these are an important tool to direct user action. To make button labels easy to scan, understand, and remember, you should check for redundant language and remove it. Words like ‘a’ and ‘the’ aren’t needed for the user to complete an action, so don’t include them in your labels.
Vague button labels like ‘yes’ or ‘no’ or ‘submit’ or ‘cancel’ don’t tell the user much. They force them to read the surrounding text before completing the task which means they’re easy to misread and require your users to do more work. The label should always refer to what it will do for the user. Users will be more comfortable when they understand what action a button does.
Buttons should use action verbs. Ideally, pair the action verb with a noun. For example:
More information on the technical aspects of buttons.
DO NOT USE BLOCK CAPITALS FOR TITLES OR IN SENTENCES, AS IT IS HARD TO READ AND PROCESS.
Write in sentence case. Read our guidance on writing in sentence case.
Use a colon to break up longer page titles or document titles. Consider breaking up your title if it is:
In reality, workforce planning refers to planning workforce requirements over time, although in recent times this has been improved because the need to improve was identified, due to changing workforce priorities and the identification that workforce planning was important.
The importance of workforce planning has been recognised and improvements have been made.
Hyphenate:
Do not hyphenate:
Read detailed guidance on using headings.
Headings on landing page blocks.
Don’t use underline formatting when writing content. Don’t use any combination of italic, bold, caps, and underline to emphasise words or phrases. Leave one space between sentences, never two.
Write in plain English. If you need to use a technical term, briefly define it so everyone can understand.
Use bullet points to make text quicker and easier to read. This helps to avoid long sentences. Make sure that:
Bullets should normally form a complete sentence following from the lead text. But it’s sometimes necessary to add a short phrase to clarify whether all or some of the points apply. For example: ‘You can only register a Turas account if you meet (one of the following) criteria’.
The number and type of examples in a list may lead the user to believe the list is exhaustive. This can be dealt with by:
Until recently the NHS Scotland branding toolkit dictated that NHS Scotland should be written without a space (NHSScotland).
This has now been changed and so it should always be written with a space, NHS Scotland.
Ordinal numbers define a position in a series, such as ‘first’, ‘second’, or ‘third’. Spell out first to ninth. After that use 10th, 11th and so on.
For sequences of numbers use ‘from… to…’
Using PDFs as the main form of content is not recommended. Find out about some of the pitfalls of PDFs and, in particular, how to create accessible PDFs
You can use he or she or they to refer to an unknown person. The context will usually determine which is the most suitable.
For example:
These abbreviations are best avoided
These abbreviations are best avoided.
E.g. can sometimes be read aloud as ‘egg’ by screen reading software. This can cause confusion to visually impaired users and impact their ability to understand. Instead of e.g. use ‘for example’ or ‘such as’ or ‘like’ or ‘including’. Use whichever word works best in the specific context.
Etc. should usually be avoided. Try using ‘for example’ or ‘such as’ or ‘like’ or ‘including’. Never use etc at the end of a list starting with these words.
I.e. is used to clarify a sentence but is not always well understood. Try to write sentences without the need to use it. If that is not possible, use an alternative such as ‘meaning’ or ‘that is’.
Full stops go inside brackets when the words in brackets make a full sentence. Put the full stop outside brackets when the words in brackets are part of a sentence. For example:
Leave a single space between sentences.
Semicolons usually support long, complicated sentences that could easily be simplified. Write shorter, simpler sentences instead.
Follow the basic rules for plurals.
To make NES plural, add ‘s - for example ‘NES’s main contribution to that programme is...’
Screen readers are designed to read exactly what is on the screen. Some screen readers do not accurately read some special characters and punctuation symbols.
Try to write words out in full as much as possible and use other characters and symbols sparingly and consistently.
Use 'and' rather than &, unless it’s an organisation or company name.
Use ‘to’ in date ranges, not hyphens or dashes.
Use numbered steps instead of bullet points to guide a user through a process. You do not need a lead-in line and you can use links and downloads in steps. Steps should end with a full stop because each should be a complete sentence.
Points to consider when writing titles:
NES is increasing the amount of video content we create and promote. Find out how to make your video content accessible
And find out about using video as a page component
In most cases, avoid using passive voice. Writing in the active voice will generally make content clear, concise and easy to understand.
Sentences should follow a subject + verb + object form.
In some cases, using passive voice can allow you front-load important keywords in headings, blurbs, and lead sentences. This can enhance the user's ability to scan and improves SEO effectiveness.
The Nielson Norman Group provides useful information on this subject: Passive Voice Is Redeemed For Web Headings