Introduction 2 Generating Content 3

Tone of voice and content creation

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  Keywords: keep a copy of the keywords in a prominent place where they can be seen and checked regularly by the team and the content creators.
  
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  Start right: when generating new content consider which of the keywords are most suitable, then frame the work with those keywords in mind.
  
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  Proofreading: always proofread the finished content and compare it with the keyword(s) to make sure it fits the tone of voice.
  
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  Fresh eyes: ask someone else to look over the content – a fresh pair of eyes will often spot inconsistencies or jarring notes that the original creator will miss.
  

Style

Most users (79%, according to research by Nielsen) skim-read web pages; when they do read them they do so 25% slower than offline text, so pages of dense, unbroken text will not be user-friendly. Visual design will play a part in maintaining the user’s attention, but style is equally important. The following sections list some dos and don’ts.

Style guidelines

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  Be direct: get to the point. Start paragraphs (and web pages) with the most important thing you want to say, and then add supporting or contextualising material (not the other way round).
  
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  Be clear: say what you mean. Don’t waffle, use euphemisms or fuzzy language. Muddy copy can be a symptom of poorly thought-through ideas.
  
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  Be concise: stick to one idea per paragraph, one theme to a page. Avoid long sentences and confusing tenses. If you can’t say the sentence out loud in one breath, it’s probably too long.
  
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  Use plain English: text should be unforced and natural, as common speech would be. If in doubt, remember that if you wouldn’t say it in conversation, don’t write it down.
  
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  Avoid jargon: if the audience is unlikely to be familiar with it, leave it out. Where this isn’t possible, make sure an alternative description is available (in brackets).
  
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  Don’t patronise: read through your copy from the user’s point of view and imagine what they’d make of it.
  
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  Avoid slang: this usually comes across as unearned informality and risks alienating the audience.
  
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  Be consistent: do the same things the same way on each and every page. Consistency helps give an underlying structure and is a significant aid to usability.
  
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  House style: once a method of styling content has been established, stick to it - inconsistency impacts on the style and on the tone of voice. A ‘crib sheet’ of regular style issues should be drawn up and referred to when content is being formed or edited.
  
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  Practice: writing copy is a skill like any other, and will be improved with practice.
  

Spelling and grammar

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  Acronyms: the fewer acronyms that are used the better. But be consistent in your styling when you do use them. For example, on first use give the words in full, followed by the acronym in brackets, e.g. “Health Education England (HEE)”; thereafter just give the acronym in the text.
  
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  Ampersands: use ‘and’ rather than ‘&’ unless as part of a proper name or title.
  
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  Apostrophes: ensure correct use throughout your content - they are not grammatical extras.
  
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  Brackets: use curved brackets (like this), not square brackets [like this]. Square brackets are only used for clarification or explanation within reported speech, e.g. a minister’s speech on Inside Government: “Thank you [Foreign Minister] Mr Smith.”
  
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  Capitalisation: don’t write body text in capital letters - it’s the equivalent of shouting at your audience. The first letters of proper nouns, departments and organisations (unless their branding states otherwise) are capitalised. Note that ‘government’ is an exception to this rule, and is not capitalised.
  
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  Contractions: these are acceptable, and a useful way to make dry material more informal.
  
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  E.g., etc., and i.e.: according to government guidelines, these notations should not take full stops (e.g., etc, ie) – there is no right or wrong but whatever style you choose, always be consistent.
  
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  Exclamation marks: best avoided, as a general rule.
  
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  Hyphens: do hyphenate ‘re’ + words starting with ‘e’ (e.g. re–elect), and co-ordinate; don’t hyphenate reuse, reorder, reopen, email, online.
  
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  Italics: don’t use italics; use ‘single quotation marks’ if referring to a document, scheme or initiative.
  
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  Spaces: use only 1 space after a full stop, not 2.
  
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  Spelling: always take time and effort to ensure there are no mistakes. Don’t just trust to spell-check – proofread all content thoroughly before it’s published and get a second pair of eyes to look over the finished content.
  
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  Quotes and speech marks: use single quotes in all common instances; only use double quotes for reported speech.
  
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  Tenses: use active rather than passive tenses where possible – this makes communication more direct.
  

Formatting

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  Headers: simple and direct is best; active, not passive in tone. Make headers relevant to the content that follows, using key words; refer to our Search Engine Optimisation section for best practice.
  
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  Sub-headers: make them descriptive; sub-headers are one of the key ways to break up blocks of text, so they should clearly inform the user about the content - most users skim-read, so good sub-headers act as ‘anchor-points’ that help catch a their attention.
  
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  Straplines: if you’re using straplines, make sure they’re relevant to content – this is good SEO practice.
  
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  Pull quotes/callouts: use them to enhance the sense of what a section contains; don’t use them to repeat straplines or re-format the sub-headers.
  
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  Paragraphs: don’t indent paragraphs; instead, leave a blank line between each paragraph of text. On websites with short, punchy paragraphs, indentations break up the visual flow of a page.
  
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  Email addresses: these should be written out in full, in lowercase and always linked. Don’t include any other words as part of the link.
  
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  File names: develop consistent conventions for naming files (both the actual filenames and the descriptive links for those files as they appear on the site pages), and stick to them (PDF, audio, AV, etc).
  
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  Metadata: apply the same tone and style to all metadata and Alt tags.
  
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  Dates and times: consistency is the key; set a style for conveying dates and times, and stick to it, for example:
  

5:30pm, not 1730hrs.

Midnight, not 00:00.

Monday to Friday, not Monday–Friday.

10 November to 21 December, not 10 November–21 December.

10am to 11am, not 10–11am.

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  Measurements: use Celsius, not Fahrenheit, and metric rather than imperial weights and measurements. Representation should be as for other acronyms.
  
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  Numbers (again, consistency is the watchword):
  

For numbers over 999, use commas (e.g. 2,400).

For fractions use the % symbol (unless the fraction is common, e.g. ‘one half’).

For money, use the £ symbol; don’t decimalise unnecessarily

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  Telephone numbers: use ‘Telephone: 011 111 111’ or ‘Mobile:’ not ‘Mob:’.
  
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  Updates: keep content current, especially news; ensure that sufficient resources exist to maintain regularly changing parts of the site; users will notice stagnation.
  
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  Short run times: be sparing with the length of audio or AV files – try to keep these to less than 5 minutes. Anything over this should probably be divided into separate ‘chapters’.
  

Sins of governmental communication

Anyone who works for or has contact with government services will know that governmental communication can be difficult to decipher.

Styles to avoid

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  Newspeak: try to avoid terms that are likely to be unfamiliar to the user, such as buzzwords and acronyms, which are closely related to ‘brandspeak’, and ‘marketspeak’. These will accentuate the differences between the content creators and the audience, and result in alienation.
  
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  Lack of clarity: get to the point as soon as possible; focus on what you’re trying to communicate, and to whom. Articles and site pages are often full of waffle that obscures the main points. Editing down content to ensure it’s effective and relevant takes time, but is worth the effort.
  

Words to avoid

This section was drawn from the government ‘design principles’ site - users of government services will be familiar with most of these. Make sure your users don’t use these words (https://www.gov.uk/designprinciples/styleguide).

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  agenda (unless it’s for a meeting)
  
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  advancing
  
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  collaborate (use ‘working with’)
  
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  combating
  
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  countering
  
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  deliver (pizzas, post and services are delivered – not abstract concepts like ‘improvements’ or ‘priorities’)
  
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  dialogue (we speak to people)
  
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  disincentivise
  
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  drive out (unless it’s cattle)
  
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  empower
  
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  facilitate (instead, say something specific about how you’re helping)
  
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  focusing
  
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  foster (unless it’s children)
  
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  impact (as a verb)
  
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  initiate
  
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  land (as a verb. Only use if you are talking about aircraft)
  
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  leverage (unless in the financial sense)
  
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  liaise
  
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  overarching
  
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  promote (unless you’re talking about an ad campaign or something)
  
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  robust
  
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  slimming down (weight-loss is slimming down; everything else is probably removing x amount of paperwork etc)
  
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  streamline
  
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  strengthening (unless it’s strengthening bridges or other structures)
  
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  tackling (unless it’s rugby, football, some other sport)
  
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  transforming (what are you actually doing to change it)
  
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  utilize
  

What not to say

Some words and issues should be avoided because they may cause offence or be misinterpreted. These include:

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  swearing
  
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  racial epithets or categorisations
  
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  sexually explicit material
  
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  religious comment
  
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  sexist comment (aim for gender-neutral tone and content)
  
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  homophobic comment
  
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  political comment (this doesn’t mean you should pretend politics doesn’t exist but that material with a political slant should be presented as neutrally as possible, without bias)
  

Social media

Broadly speaking, social media encompasses those functions or areas of the Internet that encourage users to make and share content, such as Facebook, twitter, YouTube, Reddit, Digg, LinkedIn, and Flickr, as well as blogs, website comment sections, and a host of other tools, either in stand-alone sites or as built-in features of traditional top-down content providers. For detailed guidance on using social media, see our section on Using Social Media.

Key points

These are the key points to remember when developing content for local Healthwatch sites.

The users:

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  remember your audience
  
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  everything you do must be accessible by all
  
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  your content must be easy to use
  

The tone of voice:

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  be open and engaging
  
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  be straightforward
  
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  be helpful and informative
  
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  don’t patronise
  

The style:

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  be direct
  
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  be clear
  
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  don’t waffle
  

Useful resources

The sites below take a more detailed look at the processes and practices discussed in this section.

Accessibility

Web Accessibility Initiative (a part of W3C, the Worldwide Web Consortium): http://www.w3.org/WAI/

RNIB Web Access Centre:

http://www.rnib.org.uk/professionals/webaccessibility/Pages/web_accessibility.aspx

BBC accessibility guidelines:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/guidelines/futuremedia/accessibility/

BBC public accessibility pages:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/accessibility/

Usability

Nielsen Norman Group:

http://www.nngroup.com/articles/usability-101-introduction-to-usability/

Usability First (user-centred design methods):

http://www.usabilityfirst.com/

Tone and style

UK government design principles:

https://www.gov.uk/designprinciples

UK government style guide:

https://www.gov.uk/designprinciples/styleguide

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