How We Format Content

Tips to Help Your in Creating Content for the Web

As you develop content for your website, we encourage you to be mindful about how we will implement this information. Should the information your provide not fully adhere to the correct structure our team will alter it to do so.

Submit content updates to your website

General Guidelines

Proper text formatting not only helps improve readability, but is also crucial to meeting basic accessibility concerns. Please be mindful of how you format your text when creating, editing, and updating information.

  • Do not use all caps for your text. We will change this to standard title case as needed.

  • Leave one space between sentences, never two.

Using Headings in Content

Section headings and subheadings break content into smaller, more specific sections. They give readers avenues into your content and make it more scannable by people, assistive technology, and search engines so that the content on each page remains compliant with government appointed accessibility standards.

Heading Structure

  • We will build headings in the proper numerical order - H1, H2, H3, H4, etc

  • Headings will not be chosen based on how they look on the page.

Proper structure ensures visitors to your site and Search Engine Optimization and Artificial Intelligence)tools present your content to audiences in the right way.

*Not following this structure is an accessibility violation and will be corrected by the Health Sciences Communications and Marketing Digital Team.

Developing Content with the Best Headings for Your Content

  • The name of a page is also a heading so please develop these with keywords in mind. Think of how your page's name will appear in search results.

  • Include the most relevant keywords in your section headings and subheadings, and make sure you cover the main point of the content.

  • Be generous and descriptive.

  • Ensure that headings and subheadings always follow a consecutive hierarchy.

  • Do not type out the page title as a Heading in your content. It is automatically put onto the page for you, and by manually typing it into the editor, it will appear twice on your page.

  • Do not abbreviate words in page names.

  • Do not skip a header level for styling reasons. A heading or subheading format should never be used to style any other type of content.

  • Do not bold or italicize a heading.

  • Do not try to be clever or play on words. Some readers, such as non-native speakers of English, may not understand the pun intended.

  • Do not use all caps. Doing so may cause some screen readers and assistive technology to read out each individual letter of your words, instead of the full words themselves. Certain parts of your website may show text in all caps, but that is done automatically for you. You do not need to do it yourself.

Using Dates, Times, and Other Numerical Figures in Content

It is important to be consistent in how we use numbers throughout our content. The WVU University Style Guide outlines the correct ways to use numbers in your content.

Formatting dates, times, and other numbers in content

Using Lists in Content

Lists can be used to present steps, groups, or sets of information.

Be sure to give context for the list with a brief introduction. When the order is important, like when you’re describing steps of a process, use a Numbered List. When the order is not important, instead use a (bulleted) Unordered List.

Do not make a "faux list" using paragraph or line breaks to mimic the structure of a list. Always make a true list using the tools in the Formatting Tool bar.

Using a list in combination with Headings and Subheadings is also a great alternative to using a table.

Adding Links to Content

  • Navigation links should be clear and concise.

  • Ensure that links succinctly and accurately describe the content that they are linking to.

    • Do not use the following phrases for link text:

      • "Learn more" , "Read more" ("Learn More" about what? "Read More" about what? These do not tell the user enough.)

      • "View link" , "Click Here" (Users are aware that they are using a link, such text is repetitive and undescriptive. Users with assistive technology are told when they encounter a link.)

    • Examples of better, more descriptive and clear phrases for link text:

      • "Continue onto step 2"

      • "Read more about our research"

      • "Learn about our scholarships"

      • "View the alumni page"

  • If linking to anything other than another web page, such as a PDF file or audio file, make sure the link indicates what will happen when the user clicks the link. Example link text: "Download Course Outline (PDF)".

    • If your link or button text does not do this, the Health Sciences Communications and Marketing Digital Team can help develop the best actionable phrase

  • Do not make your link text the URL you are linking to. Doing so may cause some screen readers and assistive technology to read out each individual letter of your words, in an attempt to read the URL as a word.

  • If a link comes at the end of a sentence or before a comma, do not link the punctuation mark.

  • Do not include preceding articles (a, an, the, our) when you link text. Example:

  • Do not use all caps. Doing so may cause some screen readers and assistive technology to read out each individual letter of your words, instead of the full words themselves.

Using Buttons in Content

Buttons should be used within content to provide call-to-action links. Button text should always contain actions and be clear and concise.

Information to be mindful of when creating button text:

  • Button text should ideally be three to five words, and should not be longer than six words.

  • Button text should never use punctuation or acronyms if they have not yet been stated in page content

  • Buttons will always be on their own line, beneath content and should not repeat information in content

*Please refer back to Adding Links to Content for tips on how to name buttons

Adding Images to Content

Please refer to the page, Using Images on Your Website for the best practices in choosing and adding images to your website.