Grammar

in Style Guide

Capitalization

Abbreviations

See Capitalization in abbreviations.

All caps

Avoid using all capital letters for words (except acronyms).

Braille

Use lowercase for “braille” (unless you are referring to Louis Braille).

Glossaries

Use lowercase for glossary terms (except for proper nouns).

Headings

See Capitalization in headings.

Lists

See Capitalization and punctuation in lists.

Proper nouns

Capitalize proper nouns.

If a proper noun is singular, it becomes a common noun in the plural — use lower case.

Examples:

  • Proper noun is capitalized: The goal of Success Criterion 2.5.8 Target Size (Minimum) is to make controls easier to activate.
  • Common noun uses lowercase: WCAG 2.2 provides nine additional success criteria since WCAG 2.1.

Proper nouns that have become common nouns

Use lowercase for the following nouns, unless these are part of a name or title:

That versus which

That: Introduces essential information needed to understand the sentence

Example:

The time is essential to identify specific meetings: “The meeting that starts at 10:00 is online. The other meetings are in-person.”

Which: Introduces extra information that is not essential.

Example:

The time is not essential: “The meeting, which starts at 10:00, is online.”

Punctuation

Semicolon

See Semicolon (optional) in Related information in sentences.

Commas

In a phrase listing three or more items, place a comma before the final conjunction (“Oxford comma”).

Example:

I bought apples, oranges, and bananas.

Dashes and hyphens

Em dash (—)

Put a space before and after an em dash.

For em dashes in sentences, see Em dash (optional) in Related information in sentences.

Em dashes for list items

Use em dashes when list items have a short phrase followed by an explanation or clarification.

Example:

Users of this curricula include:

  • faculty lecturer — selects topics from the foundation, developer, and designer modules to teach accessibility to computer science students
  • employee training coordinator — compares the course content offered by different providers based on the modules provided in this resource
  • procurer — includes requirements in a training Request for Proposals (RFP) based on the modules provided in this resource

En dash (–)

Examples:

  • The years 1990–2000 were transformative.
  • Read pages 10–15.
  • They defeated the defending champions 106–76.

Hyphen (-)

Use a hyphen to join compound adjectives.

Examples:

  • peer-to-peer connection
  • short-term memory
  • well-known technique

Do not hyphenate:

Examples:

  • They are two closely related concepts.
  • The technique is well known.

Use a hanging hyphen when two compound adjectives modify the same noun.

Example:

The pre- and post-deployment stages are equally important.

For guidance on terms we no longer hyphenate and are written as one word, see the section on Spelling.

Ellipsis (…)

Use an ellipsis to show:

Add a space before and after an ellipsis.

Example:

I was wondering … but it’s probably not important.

Headings

See punctuation in headings.

See punctuation in links.

Lists

See punctuation in lists.

Numbers

See punctuation in numbers.

Parentheses

See Parentheses (optional) in Related information in sentences.

Quotation marks

Use double quotation marks to reference a term.

Example:

This accessibility requirement is sometimes called “sufficient color contrast”; however, the technical term is “luminosity contrast”.

Slashes

Forward slash

Generally, only use a forward slash in dates, fractions, and URLs.

Do not use a forward slash to indicate an optional plural. Use parentheses instead.

Example:

  • Avoid: Test/s
  • Use: Test(s)

Try not to use a forward slash to show two things that have a close relationship or that are in opposition. Use a hyphen or words like “and” or “or” instead.

Example 1:

  • Avoid: The issue was part of the larger nature/nurture debate.
  • Use: The issue was part of the larger nature-nurture debate.

Example 2:

  • Avoid: The project examines cause/effect relationships.
  • Use: The project examines cause-and-effect relationships.

Example 3:

  • Avoid: If/when I have a dog, I’ll need a fenced yard.
  • Use: If or when I have a dog, I’ll need a fenced yard.

Example 4:

  • Avoid: Add a potato and/or an onion.
  • Use: Add a potato, or an onion, or both.

Exception: You can use a forward slash if it shows a relationship or contrast better than when using words.

Example:

  • Avoid: In inclusive writing, avoid gender pronouns (she or her, he or his).
  • Use: In inclusive writing, avoid gender pronouns (she/her, he/his).
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