This is a list of elements which the Gateway team check and correct on every Word document submitted for publication as a PDF to the PHE website.
Properties/metadata (File > Advanced Properties)
Ensure: 1. Correct title in ‘Title’ field. 2. ‘Author’ is always Public Health England. 3. Add main subject tags with semi-colon separators into the ‘Keywords’ field.
Title page logo
The PHE 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.
Running header
10 pt grey, preferably on 1 line.
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 PHE’.
Body copy
For normal text use ‘Body Copy’ in the new template and ‘PHE Body Copy’ in the old template. Body copy is Arial 12 point with line spacing of ‘At last 16 pt’.
Single space after full stops, not double space.
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
Accessible graphs and visual elements
- The key information contained in visual elements – graphs, graphics, infographics and flow charts – should be summarised in the text.
- Do not rely on colour to convey information. The key 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.
Tables
Keep tables as simple as possible. Do not use colour. Solid margins / borders.
Format the table in ‘Layout’ > ‘Table properties’ > ‘Table’ tab, to make cell height 0.1cm and width 0.15cm.
Highlight the header row and in ‘Layout’ > ‘Table properties’ > ‘Row’ tab, tick ‘Repeat as header row at the top of each page’.
Numbers
All numbers as digits, not spelled-out, so 3 not ‘three’.
- a) Unless the number starts a sentence or heading, in which case spell it out
- b) Except for ‘one’, which stays ‘one’ unless part of a numbered set of steps or the context demands the digit.
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 2019/2020 should be ‘2019 to 2020’ (and not ‘2019 to 20’). Unless a) in tables where space is limited, b) there’s widespread use of year units with slashes in text (eg ‘2015/2016 to 2017/18’) in which case leave as is.
Avoid abbreviations
Spell out e.g. as ‘for example,’ (unless space constraints, in which case ‘eg’)
Spell out i.e. as ‘that is,’ (unless space constraints, in which case ‘ie’)
Spell out ‘etc’ as ‘and so on’.
No ampersands. Spell out ‘&’ as ‘and’.
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.
Bold and italics
No italics except for scientific names (eg E.coli), so not 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.
Speech marks
Single speech marks for the name of a publication.
Double speech marks for direct quotations (which are never in italics).
Capitals
Never capitalise whole words for emphasis, makes them mistakable for acronyms.
Dates
23 March not ‘23rd of March’.
Footnotes
Use superscript numbers1. The footnote text in 10 point font.
References
PHE uses the Vancouver system. Use full-sized numbers (not superscript) in round brackets to indicate references, with a space between text and bracket (9), a single bracket with ‘to’ to indicate a range of references (9 to 15), all within the sentence, not after the full stop.
Reference numbers must hyperlink to the respective number in the References section (using anchor tags).
Sources
Government Digital Service style guide