Style guide

Punctuation and formatting

How to use punctuation and format your content.

Bold

Do not use bold text for emphasis. If you want to emphasise a point, rewrite the content so the word choice and structure make the emphasis clear.

Always follow the templates for bold and heading settings. If there’s no template, use bold for headings and subheadings only.

Brackets

Do not use brackets to add supplementary information. Split the content into clear sentences instead.

Do not use round brackets to show something that could either be singular or plural. Use the plural instead.

Use: Send the documents in the prepaid envelope.

Do not use: Send the document(s) in the prepaid envelope.

Capital letters

Do not use block capitals as it makes it harder to read text.

Use sentence case for all content, including page titles, headings, and sub-headings.

A capital letter should be used:

at the start of a new sentence
for proper nouns and titles
for acronyms
for days, months and religious festivals
for specific system names
for specific job and role titles

Read the GOV.UK style guide entry on ‘Capital letters’.

Colons and semicolons

Use a colon to:

introduce bullets in a list
lead into direct quotes

Do not use semicolons. They’re often misused and make writing too formal.

Commas

Use commas only when they make your sentence clearer.

Do not use commas for lists. Use bullet points instead.

Do not use a serial comma, also known as the Oxford comma, before ‘and’ in a series.

Contractions

Use simple positive contractions, like 'you're or 'we'll'. Writing that sounds natural is easier to read.

Do not use negative contractions, like 'don't' or 'can't'. Research shows that they're often misread as the opposite.

Do not use conditional contractions, like 'should've' or 'would've'.

Do not use contractions which are hard to read, like 'it'll' or 'there'd'.

Dashes

Dashes are used to separate words which are added as an explanation after the initial statement.

Avoid using dashes wherever possible, particularly in any online content. Screen reading applications read out “en dash” for every “–”. Replace dashes with commas where you can.

Use ‘to’, not a dash for:

Dashes are different from hyphens.

For more information, check the Readability Guidelines entry on ‘Hyphens and dashes’.

FAQs

Follow the GOV.UK style guide entry for ‘FAQs (frequently asked questions)’.

Fonts

Use the set fonts and styles if you’re writing for Social Security Scotland websites and content management systems.

For other content types, use Social Security Scotland templates. These templates are set to use the correct fonts and formatting.

Read typography guidance if you need to choose a font yourself.

Notifications

Content designers design notifications using agreed templates and components. The notifications templates use:

Arial font type
size 12 for body text and subheadings
size 18 for the heading component

Find notifications templates and components in internal guidance:

Hyphens

Only use a hyphen if you need it for clarity.

Hyphenate:

cross-benefit guidance
co-ordinate
end-to-end process
First-tier Tribunal
re-determination
Short-term Assistance
16-week suspension
4-weekly payment

Do not hyphenate:

email
low income benefits
prepaid
reopen

Hyphens are also different from dashes.

For more information, check the Readability Guidelines entry on ‘Hyphens and dashes’.

Italics

Follow the GOV.UK style guide entry for ‘italics’.

Quotations and speech marks

In long passages of speech, open quotes for every new paragraph, but close quotes only at the end of the final paragraph.

Single quotation marks

Use single quotation marks:

in headlines
for unusual terms
when referring to words
when referring to publications
when referring to notifications such as emails or alerts
when referring to SPM screen names and buttons

Double quotation marks

Use double quotation marks for direct quotations.

Example of single quotes

Download the publication ‘Adult Disability Payment statistics from January to March 2022’.

Example of double quotes

The user said “the application form was easy to understand”.

Sentence length

Make your average sentence 15 words long. 15-word sentences are more likely to be understood.

The maximum sentence length for a good level of comprehension is 25 words. Split longer sentences up into 2 or 3, or use bullet points. Sentences above 40 words are hard to comprehend.

Slashes

Do not use slashes instead of 'or'.

Use: Repeat the process 3 or 4 times.

Do not use: Repeat the process 3/4 times.

Spaces

Follow the GOV.UK style guide entry for ‘spaces'.

Information

Part of Style and writing guide