CT.gov editorial guide

Agency acronyms

Write out the full name of an organization the first time you use it and put the abbreviation in parentheses. After the first mention, you can use the acronym by itself in subsequent mentions.

Example:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends wearing a mask. The CDC also recommends social distancing.

Academic degrees

1. Use apostrophes for general terms like "master's degree" and "bachelor's degree." Do not use apostrophes in the formal names of degrees (e.g., "Bachelor of Arts," "Master of Science").
2. Capitalize the major when used with its formal degree type.

Examples:

• He has a bachelor's degree in English, a master's in translation, and a doctorate in comparative literature.
• She has a Bachelor of Arts in English and a Master of Science in Engineering.

3. Use periods for abbreviations with two letters. Do not use periods for abbreviations with more than two letters.

Examples:

• B.A., B.S., Ph.D., Ed.D., J.D.
• MBA, MSN, BSN, MFA, DNP

Connecticut, State of

1. When referring to the State of Connecticut websites, always use CT.gov.

Example:

Welcome to CT.gov.

2. State is lowercase when it refers to the geographic location.

Example:

The state’s largest river is the Connecticut river.

3. State is capitalized when referring to CT in its governmental capacity.

Example:

The State of Connecticut's Council on STEM

4. Write out the full name of an organization the first time you use it and put the abbreviation in parentheses. See “Agency acronyms” section.

COVID-19

Always use all caps.

Healthcare vs. health care

1. Healthcare is a system that offers medical care.
2. Health care is the effort made by trained professionals.

Examples:

• The government is debating reforms to the national healthcare system.
• Access to quality health care is a fundamental human right.

Job titles

1. Capitalize formal job titles when used immediately before a name.

Example:

Director of Operations Mary Clark will lead the meeting. (formal title before a name)

2. Use lowercase when the title is used alone or when separated from the name by a comma.

Example:

Mary Clark, director of operations, will lead the meeting. (title separated by a comma)

3. If the job title is a job description, then use lowercase.

Example:

The director of department operations will lead the meeting. (formal title used alone)

Statutes

Always cite and link State statutes with section numbers and section symbol.

Examples:

• First mention: Connecticut General Statute (C.G.S.) § 19a-754b
• Subsequent mentions: C.G.S. § 19a-754b

Addresses and locations

Addresses

1. Abbreviate the street type when they are part of a numbered address.

Examples:

• Avenue (Ave.)
• Boulevard (Blvd.)
• Street (St.)

2. Spell out a specific kind of road or location.

Examples:

• Alley
• Drive
• Road
• Terrace

3. Abbreviate the road or location if it has a numbered address before it. The one exception to this rule is the word Road – always spell it out.

Examples:

• With a numbered address: 123 Main St.
• Exception: 456 Oak Road (always spell out Road)
• Without a numbered address: Main Street

4. P.O. Box - Always use P.O. Box.

Example:

John Smith
P.O. Box 1234
Town, CT 12345

Compass points

Abbreviate compass points (N., S., E., W., etc.) when they precede a street name.

Example:

57 N. Main St.

Dates

1. Spell out months and days of the week completely.
2. Use Arabic numerals for dates.
3. Don’t use st, nd, rd, or th after a date.

Examples:

• The meeting is on April 5, 2020.
• Groundbreaking will take place on Thursday, July 19.

Numbers and numerals

1. Spell out numbers one through nine and use Arabic numerals for 10 and above.

Example:

Six people took 73 minutes or longer to complete the test.

2. Always use Arabic numerals for measurements, ages, and percentages, including numbers less than 10, except at the beginning of sentences.

Examples:

• 7 miles; 13 inches (units of measurement)
• 3 and older; 12 years old (ages)
• 4 percent; 290 percent (percentages)
• Thirty-seven percent of the donations paid for food.

3. In general, avoid using Roman numerals (I, IV, XII, etc.).

Phone and fax numbers

Use hyphens in phone and fax numbers instead of periods or parentheses. Do not put a “1” before the area code.

Example:

860-500-4412

Time

1. Use “a.m.” and “p.m.” in lowercase.
2. Drop the ":00" when listing times on the hour.

Example:

The game will start at 8 a.m.

3. Use “to” between ranges of time instead of a hyphen.

Example:

We’ll hold the session from 10 to 11 a.m.

4. Use a.m. and p.m. if the time range includes before noon and afternoon.

Example:

Drop-by hours are 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Ampersand (&)

1. Use the word “and” unless the ampersand is found in the formal name of an agency or company.
2. The ampersand can be used to shorten tabs, headings, and subheadings.

Apostrophes

• Do not attach possessive apostrophes to words, including agency acronyms, ending in “S.”
• For accessibility purposes, audience members using screen readers will have a difficult time with the added “s” affixed to names.

Example:

• Do: OHS’ programs contain many departments.
• Don't: OHS’s data is up to date.

Exclamation points

Our tone and voice is friendly but professional. We use exclamation points occasionally, but sparingly.

Oxford comma

1. Oxford commas are the commas that appear before the last item in a list.
2. Although this contradicts the AP Stylebook, we apply Oxford commas to prevent confusion and enhance comprehension.
3. We always insert a comma before a conjunction (i.e., and, but, or, etc.) in lists of three or more items.

Example:

Ask your employer about licensing, background checks, or workplace development.

Symbols

Avoid symbols that replace words, like “&” and “%.” They may take up a little less space, but spelling out the words is clearer. This is especially important for users who use mobile phones.

Contractions

Contractions are permitted and encouraged to sound conversational and natural. Use contractions whenever possible.

Examples:

• We’ll help you find the resources you need.
• It’s your right to be informed.

Pronouns

In general, don’t use “he or she” or “his or her.” It’s now widely accepted to use “they” or “their” for singular pronouns.

Examples:

• Correct: Ask your child’s pediatrician what they would recommend.
• Incorrect: Ask your child’s pediatrician what he/she would recommend.

Calls to action (CTA)

A CTA directs the user to take action. They appear as a text link or a button link.

For text CTAs:

1. Should be descriptive, meaning they clearly describe where the link will send a user. This is also important for accessibility.
2. Typically start with a verb.
3. Can stand alone or be written into your copy.

Example:

Instead of a vague CTA like “View all” or “Read more,” use “View all press releases.” or “Read more about road work.”

For button and component CTAs:

1. No more than four words.
2. Typically start with a verb.
3. Use sentence case.

Example:

Get the latest updates

Links

1. Link text should be descriptive and naturally embedded in your content when possible. Descriptive links help the user understand exactly where a link is taking them and what to expect.

Examples:

• Visit the Office of Health Strategy for more information.
• Go to the AP Stylebook website for best practices on proofreading.

2. If the link is to a PDF or other file format (e.g., Excel spreadsheet), include the file format abbreviation in parentheses.

Example:

Download the Official State Website branding guidelines (PDF) for future reference.

3. Never add the actual link URL in your copy. The link should always be embedded in your text.

Headings

1. Use sentence case. CT.gov uses sentence case for all headlines, sub-headlines, and links. This means capitalizing the first word and proper nouns, like you would in a sentence. This is the default setting for our design system.

Example:

• Programs and services for CT residents
• Resources and reports

2. Special cases: Your agency may have unique items that you refer to as proper nouns (i.e. a benefit program, a published report, an agency division, etc.), which currently use title case. You can continue using title case for those items, but the rest of the headline should be in sentence case.

Example:

• Correct: How to request a form from Public Records
• Incorrect: How to Request a Form from Public Records

Lists - bulleted or numbered

1. Capitalize the first letter of all bullets.
2. Every bullet in a list should start with the same part of speech (e.g., all verbs or all nouns).
3. Every bullet in your list should either be a sentence fragment or a complete sentence. For example, all items in this list are complete sentences with punctuation. Do not mix and match within the same list.
4. If your bullets are sentence fragments, there’s no need for punctuation at the end.

Text formatting styles

1. Bold is effective in bulleted lists and to emphasize important words or phrases. Use sparingly.
2. Don’t use quotation marks, all caps, underlines, bold or italics for emphasis in long-form writing.
3. Periods and commas go inside quotation marks.

Example:

“Houston, we have a problem,” astronaut Jim Lovell said.