Which is right?
- Internet or internet?
- Email or email?
- United States, U.S., or US?
- Website or web site?
- 7am, 7AM, 7 a.m., or seven ante meridiem?
A Style Guide helps! You don’t have to rethink your choices for the myriad of minute decisions you might make while designing and writing for the web. A style guide helps you to stay consistent, no matter how huge the project.
Style Guides spell out exactly how to write and punctuate words, phrases, abbreviations, numbers, etc., that you might question.
Your challenge is to work as a group to develop a style that you believe works for your team.
To help make decisions, consider citing any of the following well-known style guides and grammar books:
- Grammar Girl: Quick and Dirty Tips
- AP Style Guide
- Chicago Manual of Style
- New York Style Guide
- The Elements of Style, by Strunk and White.
Topics to Consider
- When would you use a hyphen, a dash or a colon?
- Is it OK to use French terms and phrases in Web content?
- How will you format numbered lists?
- Are Roman Numerals OK to use in Web content? Will your audience understand them?
- Is nonstandard spelling OK in Web content? (for example, thru, u, cu later, H8TE)
- Is Internet Lingo OK in Web content? (for example, ttyl, bff, rma, lol) When would they be OK?
- Are neologisms (newly coined terms) OK?
- AM, am, A.M., a.m. (same for pm)
- Are clichés acceptable?
- Email or e-mail? What words will you hyphenate, if any?
- Will you strive for gender neutrality? If so, how will you represent he vs. she?
- Internet or internet (no capitalization)?
- Web or web?
- Will you use mouses or mice when referring to the for computer device?
- United States, U.S., or US or USA or United States of America?