Web Writing Style Guide

General style rules

• Use bold for emphasis, but keep to a minimum
  • Do not underline for emphasis (indicates link)
  • Do not use italics for emphasis
  • Do not use ALL CAPS for emphasis (limits accessibility)
• Keep content up-to-date
• Break content into brief, clearly labeled sections of text to facilitate scanning

Symbols and punctuation

• Do not use ampersand (&) except as part of an official title
• Do not use final comma in a list (also known as a serial comma or Oxford comma) unless necessary for understanding meaning.

• Use a comma between city and state and spell out state names. When listing an address, using the postal abbreviation is fine.

• Place a space before and after n (–) and m (—) dashes.
• Use one space after periods

Numbers

• Spell out zero to nine, use numeral for 10 and above
• Always spell out “percent”
• Phone numbers: area code in parentheses, one hyphen
  • Include area code
  • Avoid alphanumeric (vanity) numbers. If they are used, do not use parentheses and include numeric-only version: 1-800-HENRYFORD (1-800-436-7936)
  • If an extension is needed, use "ext."
  • For international numbers, use + and then the full 10-digit number without hyphens

Naming conventions, acronyms and abbreviations

• Acronyms: never use
  • Henry Ford Health – Henry Ford Health
  • HFH – Henry Ford Hospital
  • HFWH – Henry Ford Wyandotte Hospital
  • HFWBH – Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital
  • HFMH – Henry Ford Macomb Hospital
• Acronyms: Spell out the words that an acronym stands for on the first reference on a page, followed by the acronym in parentheses. Do not use in a title.
• Use LGBTQ or LGBTQ+
• Always spell out Henry Ford.
• Never use Henry Ford Healths.
• On first reference, use Henry Ford Health. On subsequent references, you may use Henry Ford or Henry Ford Health as you see fit. Only use the hospital name when it is specific to the hospital.
• Use all lowercase, without www, for web addresses except where capitalization is needed for clarity

• Do not use “insurances”; instead, use “insurance plans.”
• Spell healthcare as one word (not “health care”).
• Use “orthopedic(s),” not “orthopaedic(s).”
• Use a hyphen in same-day care, same-day services, etc.
• When mentioning geography/service area for the System overall, use "southeast and south central Michigan" or just "Michigan" depending on the context.
• Use “south central” Michigan to refer to the region; two words, no hyphen.
• Spell email with no hyphen, e.g., “email us” or “send an email.”
• Use "FAQs" rather than "FAQ's"
• Use “log in” as a verb and “login” as a noun or adjective. Separate “in” and “to.”

Addresses and times

• Abbreviate: Avenue (Ave), Boulevard (Blvd), Street (St), Directional cues (N, W, S and E) when used with a numbered address, Suite (Ste)
• Spell out: Alley, Drive, Road

• Time: use lowercase and periods for a.m. and p.m.
• Use an n-dash with a space before and after between days
• 7 a.m. or 7 p.m., never 7:00 a.m. or 7:00 p.m.
• Hours: “Weekends and holidays” or “Weekends”

• Order for events: Time date place

Credentials

• Use M.D., D.O., not MD, DO
• Credentials after the name on first reference, i.e., “Mark Kelley, M.D.” (Not Dr. Mark Kelley)
• Use: Ph.D., Pharm D., RN
• Avoid other credentials unless specifically relevant: MBA, FACS, RT, BS, etc.

Page titles

• No period at the end of a title
• Do not use dashes in title

Subheads

• Each subhead should reflect the main idea of the content
• Subheads are effective at breaking up long pages of text
• Do not use dashes in subheads

Lists

• Lists should be bulleted or numbered, depending on the content.
  • If items are sequential (step-by-step), use a numbered list.
  • If the items are non-sequential, use a bulleted list.
• Use parallel construction. Begin bulleted items with the same part of speech.
• Alphabetize bullet points unless a particular order is needed for chronology or emphasis.
• Do not use semicolons after each bullet point.
• Periods after bullet points are only used when the bullets are complete sentences. Be consistent — use all phrases or complete sentence in the list.
• Capitalize the first letter of the first word of each bullet point.

Tables

• Column and row labels should be title case
• Content within should be sentence case
• Try to avoid abbreviations, unless understood by audience

Capitalization rules

See capitalization rules.

Recommended character counts

See character counts for individual components in the design style guide.