Plattsburgh State Web Style Guide
Writing Style
The Basics
- Use direct, simple sentences.
- Provide factual and content-rich information. Avoid anything that can be perceived as advertising copy or fluff. For further clarification, please contact the Web Editor.
- Write in the active voice. For example, "The ability to jump-start their careers with an internship" would become "Jumpstart your career with an internship."
Use An Appropriate Tone
- Refer to the college in the first person plural (when pronouns are used at all), such as "We provide a broad range of academic programs."
- Refer to the reader in the second person, as in "Your needs drive all of our efforts."
- Write for your audience - not for yourself.
Divide Text Into Small, Easy-to-Read Chunks
- Use section titles, headings, and sub-heads. They are signposts that help readers find content they are interested in.
- Present lists as bulleted items, not as prose. Avoid lists of more than seven items.
- Use clear section titles and liberally include headings and sub-headings where they help users to quickly find information.
- Avoid ambiguity. Avoid incomplete teasers. Give your readers the information as soon as possible and as succinctly as possible.
Spelling
- Be sure to spell check your content.
- "Website" is one word.
- Use American spelling throughout.
- Refer to the college as Plattsburgh State, not as PSU since many colleges in the U.S. use that acronym.
Abbreviations and Acronyms
- Avoid abbreviations, even for commonly abbreviated words. When abbreviations are read aloud by screen reading software they often don't make sense.
- Spell out acronyms the first time they are used on a page - A Very Long Title (A.V.L.T.)
Structuring Your Document
- An effective HTML page is one that is structured. Dave Raggett (of the World Wide Web Consortium) has posted some tips for Getting Started with HTML .
Formatting
- Align all content to the left (including headers, paragraphs and images).
Do's and Don'ts
- Don't use smart quotes (curly quotes). Use only straight quotes. Also, avoid special characters that may not be available in HTML.
- Use bold to highlight words as phrases when appropriate. Do not use italics, which can be difficult to read on the screen.
- Do not use all caps. This is the online equivalent of SHOUTING.
- Do not underline. Underlining words suggests a hyperlink.
- Do not rely on variations of font size or color. Font size and color are all defined by the college's core style sheet.
Dealing With Links
- Link in context. Avoid self-referential terms like "Click here " and "follow this link. "
- An example of linking in context is: "We have put together a web development checklist to help you develop an effective web presence."
Content Delivery Format
- When submitting content to the Office of the Web Editor, please send the content in Word or plain text. It is also helpful to provide paper versions to verify the format of the text and for proofreading.
Use of Images
- Avoid using complex graphics and photo collages that take forever to download.
- Keep page sizes small.
- Graphics should be kept to a minimum and multimedia effects should only be used when they truly add to the reader's understanding of the information.
- Align images left
Questions, Comments, Suggestions?
If you have questions about Plattsburgh State web policies, or wantto learn more about how to write for the web, please contact:
Daniel J.S. Lewis
Web Editor
Phone: (518) 564-3977
E-mail: daniel.lewis@plattsburgh.edu