Summary of the guidelines

Plan your content

Before you start writing, make a plan.

Consider:

• Who is the page for? 
• What are they trying to do?
• How will it help them? 
• Where do they need to go next?

Try writing a list of questions users might have when they visit the page to plan what to include, and what's most important. 

Read the full planning your content guidance.

Writing for the web

You should:

• write in plain English (simple, everyday words - aim for a reading age of 9)
• avoid jargon or idioms, and explain acronyms and any legal or technical terms
• be specific (avoid vague language)
• be concise - avoid dense paragraphs and keep sentences to fewer than 25 words
• use the active voice ('Report a pothole online', not 'Potholes can be reported online')
• address the user ('You can apply...', not 'Customers can apply...')
• front-load page titles and sub-headings (keywords first)
• use the inverted pyramid technique (most important information at the top)
• use positive contractions (such as we'll) but not negative ones (such as don't - say 'do not' instead)

Read the full writing for the web guidance. 

Format your content

Users do not read a whole page.

Format your content so it's easy to scan, including:

• page titles written in sentence case
• headings to structure the content 
• bold text to highlight important details 
• bullet points for lists
• number lists for instructions
• tables for presenting tabular data
• buttons for the most important link on the page
• accordions and tabs can be used when appropriate

Do not use emojis to format your content. 

Read the full formatting your content guidance. 

How to add links, documents, images and videos

Make sure you understand how to publish these content types.

Links

• Ensure the purpose of each link is clear from the link text alone or surrounding context.
• Example of link text that makes sense in isolation: Find Ipswich bus timetables on Suffolk Onboard.
• Example of link text that makes sense in context: "Facebook page" as link text in a councillor page list titled 'My links'.
• Set internal links to open in the same browser tab, and external links to open in a new tab.
• Avoid generic link text like "click here" which relies on surrounding context if descriptive link text could be used instead. 
• Avoid using a website URL as link text unless the website is better known by its domain, for example GOV.UK. (If using a website URL as link text do not include the https or www prefix.)
• Do not use a webpage URL as link text, for example suffolk.gov.uk/about/contact-us/contacting-customer-services. Use descriptive link text instead, such as "contact customer services". 
• Do not use the same link text for different destinations. For example, "Download" used multiple times on a page linking to different documents.
• Do not link headings.

Documents

• Publish information as page content rather than in documents where possible.
• Follow good practice file naming conventions.
• Your file size should under 2MB (you may be able to shrink it using an online tool).
• Use the asset picker tool where possible for adding documents.
• If the document link is in text, use the document publishing format: 'File name (file type, file size)'. For instance: Example document (Word, 12KB).
• If your document is not accessible, add: 'This file may not be suitable for users of assistive technology. Request an accessible format.'
• Check the full content guidelines for how to make your document accessible.

Images

• Images should be informative, not decorative or functional (some exceptions apply).
• Add alternative text (alt text) to images.
• Images should not contain text (except logos).
• Do not use photorealistic images generated using AI.

Videos

• You can embed YouTube videos on a webpage.
• Make sure any pre-recorded video includes closed captions (CC) to describe dialogue and sound effects.
• The video will need an audio description (AD) if there's visual information not explained in the main audio track.
• It's best practice to provide versions of your video that includes British Sign Language (BSL) interpretation, but this may not always be practical.
• Live video does not need to include CC, AD or BSL, but this is best practice and should be considered where appropriate.
• Do not use photorealistic video generated using AI.

Read the full adding links, documents, images and video guidance. 

Refer to the style guidance

The way we write should be consistent across every page on suffolk.gov.uk.

Make sure you know how to write things like:

• acronyms
• addresses
• ages
• dates and times
• money and fees
• numbers
• units of measurement
• web terms

Read the full style guidance.

Ensure content is accessible

Content on suffolk.gov.uk must comply with Level AA of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1.

You can use the mnemonic SCULPT to help remember accessibility basics: 

Structure your headings

• Set headings as H2, H3 or H4
• Make sure headings are descriptive 
• Ensure headings are nested 

Colour contrast

• Ensure strong contrast between text and background
• Modify text colour in PDFs using built-in Style features
• If in doubt, stick to black text and white background

Use of images

• Add descriptive alternative text (alt text) to images
• Do not use images that contain text (unless it's a logo)​
• Try to avoid including images of tables or graphs

Links

• Link text should make sense on its own
• Do not repeat the same link text on page
• Avoid using generic link text like 'click here'

Plain English

• Use simple, everyday language
• Avoid jargon and explain acronyms and initialisms
• Keep sentences and paragraphs short

Tables

• Use simple tables that are easy to tab throug​h
• Do not create tables with empty, split or merged cells
• Avoid using tables to format the page layout

Read the full making content accessible guidance. 

Optimise for search

To make your content easy to find in search engines like Google you should:

• write titles, summaries and page content in terms people use to search
• ensure your sub-headings are well structured
• avoid publishing information as images
• add alternative text to images
• add metadata to the page
• avoid duplicating content
• not publish pages with very little content 
• acquire links to your page from authoritative, trusted websites

Read the full search engine optimisation (SEO) guidance. 

Check your content

Before you publish or submit your content for approval, you should:

• edit your page to make it clearer and more concise
• proofread it to spot typos and other errors

Common mistakes to avoid include:

• misspellings
• homophones
• tautologies
• apostrophes
• technical differences, for example, fewer versus less

Read the full checking your content guidance. 

Manage your content

After your content is published you should:

• review your information regularly to ensure it's still accurate
• maintain your content by re-editing whenever needed
• understand how people are using your content with analytics 
• work with the CDT on quality assurance, for example broken links

Read the full managing your content guidance. 

Please contact the Content Design team with any queries about the content guidelines.