Basic page style guide

Text component

This is the main content of your page and the most commonly used component on your website.

Writing for the web guidelines

Here are a few writing guidelines to make your web page more readable

Write to a reading grade level of 8 or lower whenever possible

This makes your website accessible to a wider range of users and allows the content to be understood by almost all.

Tips for writing at lower reading grades: 

• break apart sentences when possible, and keep them short 
• avoid jargon, complex words and phrases. Consider adding a glossary for terms your readers may not know
• use headings and bullet points to break up your content into smaller chunks
• Expand acronyms on first use. For example, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)
• use images, illustrations, video and audio to help clarify meaning

Use sentence case

Studies have found that it's easier for users to scan content when it is in sentence case as it allows the eye to flow better. By writing in sentence case you are actually helping your users find what they are looking for more quickly. 

Use headings to convey meaning and structure

Use short headings to group related paragraphs and to describe the sections. This provides an easier flow of reading and understanding the content for the user. Heading1 (H1) is only used for page titles and should not be used within the content. Use Heading2 (H2) to break content into smaller, more specific sections. Heading3 (h3) is used as a subheading of H2 (do not skip heading levels e.g. Heading4 (H4) should not be nestled directly under H2). It also breaks it down into smaller sections which is less overwhelming than a wall of text. It provides organization as it helps users find specific content that they might be looking for in a page.

Use lists (bullets, numbers) for groups of related items

Use numbered lists to list steps in a process. Use bulleted lists for lists of links or other information.