Style and Language

Plain English

Plain English should always be used. Editors should ensure that text is short simple sentences and that they write it with their intended audience in mind and avoid jargon. Hantsweb is intended to be used by everyone, overseas visitors will benefit from simple language as this is easier to understand.

• Do not say - "High-quality learning environments are a necessary precondition for facilitation and enhancement of the ongoing learning process."
• Do say - "Children need good schools if they are to learn properly."

Text

Write your web pages from a user perspective and take advantage of working in a different kind of media to a printed page. Do not simply reproduce hardcopy leaflets that may contain inappropriate expressions such as 'see page 2 of this leaflet for further information' or 'see overleaf…'

Scanning

Scanning printed text for publication on the web using optical character readers is a straightforward process and increasingly common. However, you should review the text carefully after scanning for conversion errors (for example 'b' and 'd' reversal) and to strip out inappropriate 'Text'.

Quick reference guide: best practise for use of style and language in web content (from www.w3.org)

• Strive for clear and accurate headings and link descriptions.  This includes using link phrase that are terse and make sense when read out of context or as part of a series of links.
• Use informative headings so that uses can scan a page quickly for information rather than reading it in detail.
• State the topic of the sentence or paragraph at the beginning of the sentence or paragraph.  This will help people who are skimming visually but also assist people who use speech synthesisers
• Limit each paragraph to one main idea
• Avoid slang, jargon and specialised meanings of works unless defined in your document
• Favour words that are commonly used.  For example, use “begin” rather than “commence” or use “try” rather than “endeavour”
• Use active rather than passive verbs
• Avoid complex sentence structures.