This is a list of elements which the Gateway team check and, if necessary, correct on every Word document submitted for publication as a PDF to the UKHSA website.
Accessible graphs and visual elements
- The key information contained in visual elements – graphs, graphics, infographics and flow charts – must be summarised in the text.
- Do not rely on colour to convey information. The important visual information must be understandable in black and white before you add colour. Paste graphs into the Colblindor website to check. ‘Get it right in black and white’.
- If using coloured text or text on a coloured background, it must comply with WCAG colour contrast requirements.
Acronyms
Spell out all acronyms on their first appearance, including UKHSA which must be referred to on its first appearance as 'the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA)' Note: never spell out UK as United Kingdom.
The first use of 'COVID-19' in every document should spell it out before the acronym, thus: 'coronavirus (COVID-19)'
Alt text
Government Digital Service advice on alt text is:
Describe what’s happening in the image in the body text and leave the ‘Alt text’ field empty. In the context of UKHSA content, 'image' can be taken to mean graphs, maps and any other visual element.
If a good description of the graph or map is in the main body text, then adding it to alt text would only result in duplication and ‘auditory clutter’ for screen reader users.
Avoid abbreviations
Spell out e.g. as ‘for example,’ (unless space constraints, in which case write ‘eg’)
Spell out i.e. as ‘that is,’ (unless space constraints, in which case write ‘ie’)
Spell out ‘etc’ as ‘and so on’.
No ampersands. Spell out ‘&’ as ‘and’.
Body copy
For normal text use ‘Body Copy’ in the new template.
Body copy should be Arial 12 point with line spacing set to ‘At last 16 pt’.
Use a single space after full stops, not double space.
All text left justified, no indents for new paragraphs.
Bold and italics
No italics except for scientific names (eg E.coli).
Do not use italics for quotations, footnotes or any other purpose.
Italicised species names are allowed in document titles and headings.
Avoid bold, although it can be used sparingly for emphasis.
Do not use bold to create headings, use the correct heading style.
Bullet points
All sets of bullet points must be introduced by a lead-in line which is the first half of a sentence, so that each bullet point completes the lead-in sentence. Any bullet longer than a sentence is a text paragraph. Sets of bullet-pointed paragraphs will be changed into freestanding text paragraphs. Ensure that:
- there is a 1-line space between the lead-in sentence and the first bullet point
- all bullet points start with lower case letters and have no punctuation at the end
- the bullets are left justified ie not indented
Capitals
Never capitalise whole words for emphasis. Capitalised words can be mistaken for acronyms, a sequence of capitalised words is difficult to read.
If emphasis is absolutely necessary, use bold (sparingly).
COVID-19
COVID-19 is an abbreviation.
- It must always be spelt in capitals.
- The first use of 'COVID-19' in every document should spell out the word 'coronavirus' before giving the acronym, thus: 'coronavirus (COVID-19)'
Government Digital Service has a style guide devoted entirely to COVID-related content.
Dates
23 March not ‘23rd of March’.
Forward slashes must not be used in dates. So:
- '2/10/19' should be written out as '2 October 2019'
- similarly, year periods must not use forward slashes but use the word 'to': thus 2019/20 must be written out as '2019 to 2020'
Figures/chart title
Every table or graph needs a figures/chart title. Write one then apply the style from the style menu.
Figures/chart titles should consist of only one sentence with no full stop at the end.
Use the paragraph functionality to add a space of 6pt under the title. This makes it more readable/accessible.
First highlight the title text, then:
- On the Home tab click the small black arrow by the Paragraph group to open the Paragraph dialogue box.
- In the Spacing section, set the After field to 6pt.
- Click OK and this will insert a 6pt gap between title and graph or table.
Flow charts
Flow charts need a detailed and literal text equivalent of every step of the process, all the questions and all the answers. A simple summary, or pointing to the data somewhere else, isn’t enough.
The full written transcript of a flow chart can either be within a PDF:
Or as a separate HTML attachment:
Footnotes
Use superscript numbers1. The footnote text should be in 10 point font.
Headings
Sentence case. Remove unnecessary capital letters and ampersands. Don't end headings with a colon.
Maintain heading hierarchy: Chapter heading, heading 2, heading 3, heading 4.
Do not use bold text as a heading.
Numbers
All numbers as digits, not spelled-out, so 3 not ‘three’, except for ‘one’, which stays ‘one’ unless part of a numbered set of steps or the context demands the digit.
It is best practice not to start a sentence with a number, so this sentence - '17.0% of adults turning 70 during quarter 3 were vaccinated by the end of March 2021' - should be turned into either:
'Of adults turning 70 during quarter 3, 17% were vaccinated by the end of March 2021'
or
'Seventeen per cent of adults turning 70...' etc
Use commas with numbers in thousands: 3,778 not 3778.
Use ‘to’ rather than a hyphen to indicate duration: ‘27 to 48’ not ‘27-48’.
Replace forward slashes with ‘to’. Thus 2019/20 or 2019/2020 should both be written in full as ‘2019 to 2020’.
Properties/metadata (File > Advanced Properties)
Ensure that:
- The correct title is entered in the ‘Title’ field. 2.
- The ‘Author’ is always Public Health England.
- Add main subject tags with semi-colon separators into the ‘Keywords’ field.
References
We put all academic references in a numbered list at the end of the document, arranged by order of their first appearance in the main text.
As to the formatting of the end references, we follow Government Digital Service requirements:
References should be easy to understand by anyone, not just specialists.
They should follow the style guide. When writing a reference:
- do not use italics except for binomial nomenclature (eg Shigella sonnei) but not for journal titles
- do not use bold
- use single quote marks around titles of papers
- write out abbreviations in full: 'page' not 'p.,' 'Nutrition Journal' not 'Nutr J.'
- use plain English, for example use ‘and others’ not ‘et al’
- do not use full stops after initials or at the end of the reference
If the reference is available online, make the title a link and include the date you accessed the online version thus:
Corallo AN and others. ‘A systematic review of medical practice variation in OECD countries’ Health Policy 2014: volume 114, pages 5-14 (viewed on 18 November 2014)
Occasionally, we receive documents where the references are arranged alphabetically by author. It is preferable to use the numbered-in-order-of-first-appearance system described above.
Linking to references at the end of a document
References or citations within the main text to the academic references in the numbered list at the end of the document should be in the following format:
- full-sized numbers referring to the numbered reference
- in round brackets
- within the sentence ie not after the full stops
- with a space between the text and the citation bracket
For example: 'Studies show that incidence of of infection are restricted to certain localities (9).'
Some academic styles require a citation to include authors or dates of publication in brackets. We use numbers because it makes citations shorter and easier to follow.
If multiple references need to be referred to, put them in the same bracket, with commas separating them (5, 6, 7).
If a consecutive series of references is required, use the word 'to' instead of a hyphen (9 to 15) not (9-15).
Reference numbers like this, within the text, must hyperlink to the respective number in the References section. You create links within a document by using Word's Bookmark functionality to create 'anchors' at the start of each numbered reference, and then making each bracketed reference an internal link.
Running header
Use the document title or a lightly edited version, in Arial 10 pt grey, preferably on only 1 line.
Speech marks
Single speech marks for the name of a publication.
Double speech marks for direct quotations (which are never in italics).
Spellings
'Data set' and 'data sets', not 'dataset' and 'datasets'.
Government is not capitalised unless at the start of a sentence or referring to the name of a specific government, for example, the Government of Nepal.
Tables
Keep tables as simple as possible.
Do not use colour anywhere in the table except the lightest grey in the header row.
Make all margins / borders visible using the Borders dropdown on the Home tab.
Format the table in Layout > Table properties > Table tab. Make the left and right cell margins 0.15cm.
Note: make sure the Top field is set to 0 cm. Having any value in this field is a prime cause for lines in a table disappearing when you convert it to PDF.
To space the text and let it breathe, go to the Home tab, click the small arrow in the Paragraph group to open the Paragraph dialogue box. Se the spacing before and after to 2pt. This is enough to separate the text from cell borders and so make the table easier to read.
Highlight the header row and in ‘Layout’ > ‘Table properties’ > ‘Row’ tab, tick ‘Repeat as header row at the top of each page’.
Table of contents (ToC)
In the template, right click and select ‘Update field’ to activate.
Carefully delete entries in the ToC for the document title, ‘Contents’ and ‘About the UK Health Security Agency'.
Title page logo
The UKHSA royal crest is always top left of the front page, above any text line.
Never manipulate it or use it without the strapline when co-branding.
Sources
Government Digital Service style guide
Government Digital Service COVID style guide