Summary of the guidelines

Read the summary of how you should plan, write and publish content on suffolk.gov.uk.

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? 
  • What do you need to include? 
  • Where do they need to go next?

User-centred thinking will help you structure and write more effective content. 

Read the full planning your content guidance.

Write for the web

You should:

  • write in plain English (simple, everyday words - aim for a reading age of 9)
  • avoid jargon, 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)

Check the clarity of your writing using Hemingway Editor (Only check 'Green', non-sensitive/confidential data).

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

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

  • Links should make sense on their own, for example: Find Ipswich bus timetables on Suffolk Onboard
  • Write link text as an action where appropriate
  • Open internal links in the same tab and external links in a new tab
  • Do not link page headings (e.g. H2)
  • Avoid using the same link text for different links on the same page
  • Do not use full URLs or 'click here' as link text

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 hyperlink images
  • Check the full content guidelines for how to present images on suffolk.gov.uk

Videos

  • You can embed YouTube videos on a webpage
  • Make sure any prerecorded 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

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.