Content Style Guide

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We have produced this guide to ensure consistency of writing across all of Cégep Heritage College.

It can be used by anyone in The College involved in web writing. If you have any questions, please contact the Marketing and Communications team. 

Audience

The College’s website has been structure with user-segmentation in mind. When creating content, we always consider which user segment it belongs in. This is who we’re writing for!

Primary users

Future students

I want to learn about The College’s programs so I can determine if one is right for me.

Current students

I want to quickly access campus information so I can succeed in my studies and campus life.

Secondary users

Community

Connecting alumni, employers, partners, Foundation donors and the general public with The College.

About us

Public-facing information about The College's governance, plans, facilities, careers, policies and regulations.

Core Principles

Plain-language first

Web readers want information in its simplest form. Also, The College is a bilingual-community with students from all over the world. By using plain-language, we make sure our message is clear for all.

Examples of plain-language:

• Accomplish → do
• Accordingly → so
• Accurate → correct, right
• Currently → now
• Demonstrate → show
• Desire → want
• Facilitate → help
• Frequently → often
• However → but
• In an effort to → to
• Permit → let
• Provide → give
• Requirement → need

Want more? Here are some great resources:

• Use simple words and phrases (plainlanguage.gov)
• Web Writing Checklist (plainlanguage.gov) 

Keep it short. Break it up.

Use headings. They help readers scan for the content they need.

Keep sentences around 10-20 words, with an average of 12 words. Anything over 20 words should be revised.

Keep paragraphs around 3-10 sentences, with an average of 5. Anything over 10 should be revised.

Make it vibrant but not immature.

The website’s primary goal is recruitment and selling programs/services. The primary users are future and current students. To engage them, we must write in a youthful but intelligent way. This is outlined more in voice and tone.

Voice

The College is known for attracting a diverse and innovative community of youth. Our content should reflect this. 

When writing for the The College website, if we write with a common voice, we help to build a relationship between us and our users.

Our voice is:

• Youthful (but not immature)
• Diverse (with a sense of community)
• Innovative

Tone

Voice is fixed. Tone changes depending on the situation. Every piece of writing is either:

• Personable or professional
• Exclusive or accessible
• Enthusiastic or matter-of-fact
• Funny or serious
• Conversational or formal

Use active rather than passive voice.

We teach students at The College.

Use the first and second person. Avoid the third person.

Using the first and second person brings your reader into your narrative. The third person creates distance. Although academics favour the third person, writing for the web favours the first and second person. 

First person: We’re excited to have you on campus

Second person: You can register for your classes on Aug. 15th, 2019.

Use headings.

When writing for the web, you must use headings (H1, H2, H3, H4, etc.) to create useful content. 

Headings serve three purposes:

• They help users scan for the knowledge they want.
• They help Google index content, improving your search-engine results.
• They help users using assistive technology navigate your page.

Think of your headings like a table of contents. If you hide all the body text, and only read the headings, will you get to the right information?

Avoid large blocks of text.

Break up your test with headings to guide you reader.

Keep sentences around 10-20 words, with an average of 12 words. Anything over 20 words should be revised. 

Keep paragraphs around 3-10 sentences, with an average of 5. Anything over 10 should be revised.

Cégep Heritage College terminology

As outlined in policy 43, we write "Cégep Heritage College" the first time we mention our school and references can be shortened to "The College" thereafter.

Grammar, spelling, and formatting

Headings and subheadings

Title headers use title-case. This usually applies to the "Header" field in the editor, rather than the headings you use in the main text-box of the editor. 

Out-of-Province Student Admission Requirements

Headings and subheadings use sentence-case.  This usually applies to the headings (H2, H3, H3, etc.) you're using in the main text-box of the editor. 

Admission requirements for Ontario students

Contact details

Contact details for College staff should not be written in the text-editor. You should hyper-link services to their contact details in the contact repository. This way, when we update a phone number, we only have to do so in one place (the contact repository) rather than on many web pages. Aim to link services/positions rather than specific people. 

Should you need assistance, please contact Student Services.

Web addresses

Web addresses should not be written using full URLs on web pages. It can sometimes be appropriate to write a domain when it is the brand name of a service. Best practice is to link appropriate sentence text.

Ensure that the hyperlink has context and describes where it leads. It should not just read “click here” and should clearly identify the link destination.

Alliance Sport-Études supports elite athletes who pursue higher studies.

Abbreviations and acronyms

Always give the full title of a person, department, group, or institution the first time it is mentioned within the text (not just the title), followed by the abbreviated version or acronym in brackets.

Recognition of Acquired Competencies (RAC)

Subsequent references may employ an abbreviated version or an acronym.

No periods are needed abbreviations.

RAC

Numbers, money, and ages

In general

In text, spell out in full all specific figures up to and including ten.

one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten

Higher numbers should be written in figures, using commas to indicate thousands.

11 12 13 150 6,110 5,483,472

Currency symbols should appear at the beginning of values. Decimals are periods, not commas.

$100
$5.23

Exceptions

Abbreviated forms of units

2lb 12oz, 3ft 6in, 10m, 167cm, 11.67m, 2.2kg

Fractions and percentages

Examples: 3.5%, 10.2%

When a number over ten is used to begin a sentence

Seventy people attended the event.

When two numbers in different categories appear in close proximity

We are expecting 9 to 12 participants. 

Where the numbers ten and below appear in a table digits may show the information more clearly.

Dates and times

The weekday comes before the month, and the numerical date is always written as a digit, with no st/nd/rd/th suffix. The year, if relevant, should be written in full.

Monday, October 8, 2019

Days of the week and months of the year can be abbreviated if space is at a premium. Be consistent when you do this, and always use three letter abbreviations - Thu not Thurs, Jun not June. No periods are necessary. 

Mon, Oct 8, 2019. 

Times of day should always use digits, never words, and should use the 24 hour clock, with the hours and minutes separated by a colon.

16:00

Punctuation

Lists

Bullet point lists

Where bullet points form a list of very short phrases or single words, lower case should be used (unless the point contains a proper name or formal title). Punctuation is not necessary.

This course will address:

• reading
• writing
• presentations

If the leading sentence and bullet points combine to form complete sentences, then lower case should be used for each bullet point (unless the point contains a proper name or formal title) and no punctuation should appear at the end.

Our sports facility has:

• an indoor basketball-court
• a fully-equipped gym, staffed during daytime and evenings
• an indoor swimming pool

If each bullet point is a complete sentence, then sentence case and punctuation should be used.

There are some general points you should take into account when preparing for your co-op interview.

• Most interviewers will consider how your present yourself. Dress appropriately.
• Taking notes in with you can keep you focused and help you answer questions. 
• You should feel confident asking about the position to ensure it is the right fit for you.

Numbered lists

Use a numbered list only when your listed items represent a progression, such as a series of steps with a set order, or when you need to be able to reference the list items in another part of the document or page.

Your program will help you get academic, practical, and workplace knowledge and skills. The application process works as follows:

1. The Work Placement Coordinator will direct you to placements you’re eligible for.
2. You respond to employers offers and actively search for jobs on your own, ensuring that all work place offers are approved by your Work Placement Coordinator.
3. You forward your application (cover letter and resume saved as one document) to the Work Placement Coordinator.
4. The Work Placement Coordinator organizes the interview process (either at the College or on location) for you.
5. The employer advises the Work Placement Coordinator which student(s) he/she wishes to hire.
6. You and your employer sign a Work Contract Agreement (copies to the student, employer and coordinator) and you arrange your first day with the employer (start date, time, location, security pass/sign in procedure etc).
7. The Work Placement Coordinator works with the employer and you for the duration of the placement and resolves any issues.
8. The employer provides feedback regarding your performance to you and Work Placement Coordinator.
9. The employer completes the Work Placement Evaluation and returns it to the Work Placement Coordinator in the final week of the term.

You should punctuate numbered lists the same way you do bullet lists.

Favour basic punctuation.

Avoid the use of complex punctuation, such as semi-colons (;), dashes (--), and colons (:) unless absolutely necessary. Favour periods (.) and commas (,) to keep your writing simple and easy to digest. 

The College's content style guide is heavily influenced by the University of Dundee content style guide.  We'd like to thank them for sharing it publically, helping to advance content strategy for higher-education.

If you'd like to dive deeper into standardizing your web writing, you can visit these resources:

• Canada.ca Content Style Guide
• The Center for Plain Language
• Plain Language Guidelines (plainlanguage.gov)
• Content Strategy Basics (usability.gov)