Abbreviations

Dates

Spell out months; do not use dashes (use “to”)


Accessibility

Headers

Do not select heading levels based on their appearance. Select the appropriate heading rank in your hierarchy. The size of the header is not the same as the rank/hierarchy. 

Do not skip levels (ie, H1, H2, then an H4)


Capitalization

Headers

H1: Title case; H2-H6: Sentence case

Hyperlinks

All hyperlinks should be sentence case

Button Text

Buttons should also be sentence case


Content Types

Introductory Text

Page introductions are important for both search and usability. Content should be clear, actionable, and answer users' immediate needs at the moment they encounter it.

Headings

Headings have an important role for both accessibility and usability. Screen reader users can navigate a page according to its headings, listen to a list of all headings, and skip to a desired heading to begin reading at that point. Headings also divide content into sections, allowing users to scan long pages and find what they need. 

https://accessibility.princeton.edu/how/content/headings

https://usability.yale.edu/web-accessibility/articles/headings

https://www.nomensa.com/blog/how-structure-headings-web-accessibility

Page Titles

Titles and their associated URLs are integral to a website's architecture and impact how users find, interact, and digest information. 

https://www.nngroup.com/articles/top-10-ia-mistakes/

https://www.nngroup.com/articles/top-10-ia-mistakes/


Hyperlinks

https://usability.yale.edu/web-accessibility/articles/links

https://www.nngroup.com/articles/learn-more-links/

https://usabilitygeek.com/hyperlink-usability-guidelines-usable-links/

https://www.plainlanguage.gov/guidelines/web/write-effective-links/