It includes:
- guidance on specific points of style
- derbyshire.gov.uk style for specific words and phrases, in terms of spelling, hyphenation and capitalisation
If you have a query about a point of style that isn't covered here, check the GOV.UK style guide first for guidance and, if not covered there, the Guardian and Observer Style Guide.
A B C D E F G H I J L O P S T U V W X Y
Active voice
Use the active rather than passive voice, for example: 'renew your library books' rather than 'your library books can be renewed'. This helps to write concise, clear content.
(See also 'tone of voice').
Attachments
If attachments are date specific, they should always be displayed in reverse order with the most recent date at the top of the list, for example:
- 2023 Quarter 4 statistic
- 2023 Quarter 3 statistic
- 2023 Quarter 2 statistic
- 2023 Quarter 1 statistic
- 2022 Quarter 4 statistic
(See also 'file sizes')
Authority
Never refer to Derbyshire County Council as 'the authority'. We refer to ourselves in the first person ('we' or 'our') wherever possible.
(See also 'tone of voice').
Bold text
We don't use bold text on our website to highlight words or phrases. Use of bold text can make the content look messy and confuse the reader. If the content is written effectively, bold text shouldn't be necessary.
Borough council
Where using the full name of the council use capital letters, for example 'High Peak Borough Council', at all other times both words should be lower case.
We have 4 borough councils in Derbyshire:
- Amber Valley Borough Council
- Chesterfield Borough Council
- Erewash Borough Council
- High Peak Borough Council
(See also 'district council')
Buxton Museum and Art Gallery
Upper case for the full title; 'Buxton museum' for short.
Call Derbyshire
Upper case.
01629 533190
Calls to Action (CTAs)
- CTAs should only link to transactional content, such as fault reporting, browsing a database or filling in a form.
- The text on a CTA should be short but compelling. Don't over-complicate the language.
- CTAs should be as visible as possible, so they should be placed at the top of the page straight after the introduction paragraph.
- A CTA does not belong below the fold, in the middle, or at the end of a page.
- There should only be one CTA to a page. If you need more than one CTA, it's likely that the page is over-long or you need to split some of your content onto another page.
- We discourage placing the same CTA in multiple locations on a page as it complicates things from both a user experience and editorial point of view.
- A CTA can be preceded with a short sentence or two of supporting text if it needs it, to encourage people to follow the link or to emphasise the reason for following the link.
- CTAs take precedence over images and other content. If a CTA causes issues with the display of a page when presented along with an image, the image may need moving, resizing or removing altogether
See also 'links'.
Campaign pages
There are 3 circumstances where a campaign page could be used:
- with traded services or where we are in competition with the private sector, for example: adult education
- where information is pulled from across the site, such as snow information
- where it ties in with a specific campaign, and has a number of child pages: Trusted Trader, for example
The decision whether content is appropriate for a campaign page lies with the digital communications team.
Images used on campaign pages should not be logos, and they should include as little wording as possible. See 'images' for more information.
Committee
Use capitals for the name of the committee the first time it is mentioned on a page, for example 'Policy Committee', but refer to 'the committee' thereafter.
Use lower case when talking about committees generally.
Contact information
Unless talking about a councillor or senior officer, avoid using individual names or other personal contact details, and avoid lists of contacts. Refer instead to the general contact details for the council or service. This makes sure any correspondence is answered as quickly as possible.
When writing out a postal address each part of the address should be on a new line, no need for commas to be used on each line or a full stop at the end. Other information about the location should be included alongside, for example opening hours or parking information.
(See also 'telephone numbers').
Coronavirus
Avoid any emotive language such as 'crisis'. 'Coronavirus pandemic' is more appropriate.
(See also 'COVID-19').
Councillor
Website and email: Councillor Joe Bloggs
Social media: Cllr Joe Bloggs
County council
Both words should be lower case unless using the full name of the council, for example 'Derbyshire County Council'. On digital channels, we refer to ourselves in the first person ('us', 'we') wherever possible. Never use 'the county council' on digital channels.
(See also 'Derbyshire County Council' and 'tone of voice').
COVID-19
Capitalised and hyphenated, no spaces.
(See also 'coronavirus').
DCC
Never use the abbreviation DCC when referring to Derbyshire County Council.
(See 'Derbyshire County Council').
Departments and teams
If at all possible, provide your information without referring to your department or team. A member of the public has come to the website to find information on a service not on the internal structure of the council.
Refer to yourself as 'we' in the body of your text for example 'we are able to provide the following'. If you need to mention your department please try and remember to refer to yourself as a service area and do not use capital letters. 'Services' sounds helpful to a visitor while departments are bureaucratic structures which may be off-putting or meaningless to those not employed by us.
(See also 'we…').
Derby
Refer to Derby, the place, as 'Derby' and not 'Derby city'.
When referring to Derby City Council, it's upper case when mentioned in full; lower case for 'the city council'.
Derbyshire County Council
There should rarely be a need to write Derbyshire County Council in full in digital communications or content. Let the fixed elements of the design provide the organisational context and branding, and refer to the council in the first person ('us', 'we').
(See also 'we…' and 'local authority').
Derbyshire Directory
Upper case.
Derbyshire Eco Centre
Capitalise when referring to the whole name. No hyphen. Lower case for 'the eco centre'.
Don't refer to it as 'The' Derbyshire Eco Centre.
Derbyshire libraries
Lower case.
Derbyshire Record Office
Upper case.
District council
Both words should be lower case unless using the full name of the council, for example Derbyshire Dales District Council. Never use 'the District Council' on digital channels.
We have 4 district councils in Derbyshire:
- Bolsover District Council
- Derbyshire Dales District Council
- North East Derbyshire District Council
- South Derbyshire District Council
(See also 'borough council').
Eco centre
See Derbyshire Eco Centre.
email
Lower case, no hyphen, except where it is mentioned in text at the beginning of a sentence, such as the one that follows.
Email addresses should be written in full as an active link with no other words in the link.
Email addresses should be preceded by the word 'email', so, "email: econtent@derbyshire.gov.uk"
Ethnicity
We should avoid using terms such as 'BME' and 'BAME'.
See the government's guide to writing about ethnicity for further guidance.
Facebook
Upper case. See the separate brand guidelines on Facebook about use of the logo.
Family information directory
Lower case.
FAQs
We don't use FAQs on digital channels, except in exceptional circumstances. Content created with user needs in mind won't need FAQs. There is more on GOV.UK about why we don't use FAQs under the heading 'structuring your content'.
Feature stories
Feature stories should link to content pages on the website and not to news items. Similarly news items on the website should not act as content pages.
Feature story images should not include logos or text.
File sizes
Files supplied for inclusion on the website should be no larger than 5MB.
Government
Always use a lower case G: 'the government'.
Greenways
Lower case. One word, no hyphen: 'greenways'.
Household waste recycling centres
Lower case.
ID
Upper case: 'ID card'.
Images
Images should be supplied at the highest resolution possible for the digital communications team to add to the website. The team will then edit and resize the image appropriately.
Logos should not be used unless they are legally required or part of a partnership programme. Feature story images should not include logos.
On the website, content images will be 250 pixels wide, and while there is no vertical restriction, the height of the image should be appropriate for the content on the page.
Images involving members of the public need to have the necessary permissions sorted before they can be added to the website.
All images should be appropriate for Derbyshire, particularly when using stock photographs as these can often depict scenes more appropriate for a North American audience.
Images should include as little wording as possible, if any at all.
Italics
Don't use italics. Use single quotation marks if referring to a document, scheme or initiative.
Jargon
Avoid jargon and council-speak. Try to use everyday speech and remember who your audience is – although jargon is useful between people sharing a certain type of knowledge, anyone without that knowledge will be confused. Watch out for words and phrases such as:
- local authority – say 'the council' or 'we' wherever possible
- resources – say 'money' or 'staff'
- persons – say 'people'
- additional – say 'extra'
(See also 'plain English').
Job titles
Specific job titles and councillors' role titles are upper case, such as Leader of the County Council, Director of Legal Services.
Generic job titles are lower case, for example director, councillor, social worker.
When the person's name precedes the title it should have lower case letters: 'John Smith, business services assistant'.
Legal content
This should be written in plain English. It's important that our users understand content and that we present complicated information simply.
Where evidence shows there's a clear user need for including a legal term (like 'bona vacantia'), always explain it in plain English.
See GOV.UK guidance for writing well for specialists.
Links
There are a few rules about using links:
- Links to other pages or websites should be in a related links section unless the customer can't continue with the current page without first clicking through to the linked place. Then the link can be included in the text. The link text should describe the destination of the link in isolation: never use 'click here' or 'read more', always make the text flow within the sentence.
- Write email addresses in full, in lower case and as active links. Don't include any other words as part of the link.
- Only link to a page or website once in the text, don't repeat every time the same phrase is used afterwards
- Front-load your link text with the relevant terms and make them active and specific. Always link to the online service first, offer offline alternatives afterwards (if possible)
- Don't enter into reciprocal link arrangements – link to other pages, websites and organisations where there is value for us to do so, not to endorse or simply to get a link back from their site
- If a link really needs to be written out in full, drop the http://www. prefix for example: derbyshire.gov.uk
- 'Top tasks' when added to a page should be as a multiple of 2 for consistency of style. They should link to either transactional content, such as reporting a fault, or popular information, such as term times
- Avoid lists of links to other organisations and websites - most people use Google to find out what they need. Instead, give advice about what to look for when choosing a particular service and keep links to a minimum
Consider the following before adding a link:
- Is the website you are linking to an official government or government-supported website?
- Does the website you are linking to provide official government information or services?
- Does the website you are linking to complement and expand on information and services on derbyshire.gov.uk?
- Is the recommended website accessible to a wide audience? If it is a government website you should assume steps have been taken to make the website accessible.
- Is the content of the website you are linking to relevant and useful for visitors?
- Does the site you are linking to appear to be accurate and current?
- Is the website you are linking to user-friendly?
- Does the website meet one or more of the following highly desirable criteria?
- the website enables visitors to conduct transactions with government online
- the website provides visitors with information they need to interact directly with government
- the website provides visitors with information about service performance in the public sector
- the website provides community-level information and services
It's a good idea to keep track of whether the links you're providing are still relevant so check them each time you update your content. The digital communications team can also let you know whether anyone is clicking on your link – maybe it doesn't need to be there at all or is in the wrong place on your page.
A disclaimer stating we take no responsibility for the content of external websites is included in the footer of every page on the website. You don't need to add this information again within your part of the web page.
See more information about our linking policy.
Local authority
Don't use 'local authority' (see also 'authority'). Where you need to use it, make it lower case and use 'local council' instead.
Don't use 'LA'.
Use 'we' wherever possible when referring to Derbyshire County Council.
(See also 'tone of voice').
Logos
See images.
Ofsted
Use an upper case O.
Online
One word, no hyphen.
Page summary
This should be a short summary and should be written with SEO in mind.
Parents and carers
Use 'parents and carers' instead of 'parents and guardians'.
Spell out 'and' rather than using a slash: 'parents/carers'.
Personal identification number (PIN)
Lower case: 'chip and pin'. 'Pin number' is also acceptable, as it's conversational English.
Plain English
Using plain English doesn't mean you are dumbing down your text, rather you are delivering your message in the clearest way possible.
Also, it isn't just a list of words to avoid (although we use GOV.UK’s list for this) but part of our our communications ethos.
Examples of words to avoid are listed on GOV.UK. This list isn't exhaustive but provides an example of words and language which could confuse customers.
Don't forget that often you are writing for a mixed audience whose first language may not be English, or who may not have the same levels of literacy as you.
In general, don't use formal or long words when easy or short ones will do. Use 'buy' instead of 'purchase', 'help' instead of 'assist', 'about' instead of 'approximately' and 'like' instead of 'such as'.
We lose trust from people if we write council 'buzzwords', jargon or use bureaucratic language. These words are often vague and can lead to misinterpretation or meaningless content. We can do without these words.
Be open, and specific about what you’re doing instead. See GOV.UK for more guidance on plain English.
Police
Officially it's Derbyshire Constabulary, but refer to them as 'the police' (lower case) in general content.
Postcode
One word.
Press releases
Press releases follow the style guide used by our communication team.
Self-assessment
This compound noun should be hyphenated.
Sentence length
Don't use long sentences – check any sentences with more than 25 words to see if you can split them to make them shorter. There is more advice on GOV.UK about writing short sentences.
Short URLs
Talk to the digital communications team about using short URLs, as we can set them up for you.
Never use an outside service to create a short url to one of our pages.
See also URLs.
Special educational needs / special educational needs and disabilities.
Lower case but use upper case for the acronym 'SEND'.
Steps
Use numbered steps instead of bullet points to guide a customer through a process. You don't need a lead-in line and you can use links and downloads. Each step ends with a full stop because each step should be a complete sentence.
Team
Lower case.
Telephone numbers
To support our corporate channel shift directives, always promote an email address or online form before adding a telephone number to your web page.
Use 'Telephone: 011 111 111' or 'Mobile: 01111 111 111'.
Hyperlink to telephone numbers and remember to include the word "telephone" in the alt text, so: 'telephone: 01628 533190'
Take care when writing telephone numbers on the website. Make sure they are laid out clearly with spaces in between the numbers, for example, telephone: 01629 533190. Telephone numbers need to be clearly and consistently presented. Where you are putting a telephone number for a service area please use a direct dial number and not the switchboard and extension.
Remember the Call Derbyshire number: 01629 533190. You should only put the Call Derbyshire number where you have a pre-arranged agreement with them to use the contact centre. We always use the 01629 prefix rather than the 0845 number.
When a number is memorable, group the numbers into easily remembered units, such as 01773 87 87 87.
Top tasks
See 'links'.
Tone of voice
Write conversationally. Picture the customer and write as if you were talking to them one-to-one but with the authority of someone who can actively help.
Town council
Both words should be lower case unless using the full name of the council.
Trading Standards
Upper case.
Trusted Trader
Upper case.
Twitter
See 'X'.
URLs
URLs (web addresses) are important both as a navigation tool for users and as an element in SEO. URLs should:
- be semantic, reflecting the site structure and being intuitively meaningful to non-expert users
- not be repetitive – for example: rubbish-waste/recycling-centres/centre-locations/chesterfield instead of /waste-and-recycling/recycling-centres/recycling-centre-details/chesterfield
- be lower case
- be as short as possible with superfluous words such as 'and', 'a', 'an', and 'the' removed
- use words and not contain acronyms wherever possible
- use dashes to separate words to ensure they are easy to read
- use the verb stem where possible, for example: /apply instead of /applying
URLs - short
Short, vanity or friendly URLs are redirects which sit at the top level of a site and resolve to a 'full' URL.
Short URLs should only be created when needed for significant offline marketing and promotion where users are required to type them in. By default, short URLs do not use hyphens.
For online linking, full URLs should be used.
Videos
Videos should be sent to the digital communications team for uploading to YouTube before embedding on the website. They should be accompanied by a full transcript.
Only one video should be embedded per page.
'We…'
Use 'we' and other first person terms like 'our' and 'us' wherever possible to keep the tone conversational. The fixed elements of the web page, such as the header, will give the reassurance or confirmation that 'we' refers to Derbyshire County Council. As one council we shouldn't refer to departments or teams in content unless it's vital to the customer for the information they're reading or for them to access the service.
Words to avoid
By being open and specific you avoid metaphors and unnecessarily complicated language. By using plain English the information on our websites will be faster to read and easier to understand, helping our customers to do what they need to do faster.
Examples of words to avoid can be found on GOV.UK.
X used to be called Twitter. You can refer to it as 'X (formerly Twitter)'. See the X website for brand guidelines on how to use the X logo.
'You…'
Refer to customers in the first person. Use 'you' rather than 'people' or 'residents' so they feel we're talking to them personally.
(See also 'we…').