Be Consistent

Use Consistent Spellings for Web-related Terms

The following list provides the spelling for certain commonly used words:

• website (one word, lower case)
• webpage (one word, lower case)
• home page (two words, lower case)
• email (one word, no hyphen)
• online (one word, no hyphen)
• log in (two words when used as a verb - for example, log in to the application)
• Internet (the publicly-available web) is capitalized
• intranet
• web
• Web Manager (two words, both capitalized)
• Web Liaison (two words, both capitalized)
• References to the Nation's capitol should be "Washington, DC." Use "Washington" by itself to refer to the state of Washington.

Use this Format for Time

For events (broadcasts, webcasts, meetings, conferences, conference calls) that span time zones, provide both the Eastern and Pacific times. This will help reduce confusion for people living in other time zones.

Examples

• Webcast - Air Traffic Controller Management Group: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. EDT (8 a.m. to 11 a.m. PDT).
• Teleconference - Aviators Who Made History: Noon to 3:30 p.m. EST (9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. PST).

Use this Format for Phone Numbers

Display phone numbers as follows:
(555) 555-5555

If there is an extension, display it as follows:
(555) 555-5555, ext. 55

Use this Format for Dates

All FAA webpages must include the date of the last significant change to content. Time-sensitive documents such as press releases must contain a publication date.

Display the date as follows:
Month date, year
Example: April 30, 2004

Use Serial Commas

Use serial commas to separate a series of words.
Example: Be consistent in the way you format times, phone numbers, and dates.

Use "For Example"

Use "for example" in sentences when listing an example or many examples. Do not use e.g. or i.e. to introduce the example or etc. at the end of a sentence.

Know When to Capitalize

• First word of every sentence (whether it is a complete sentence or not)
• Proper nouns

Referencing FAA

Do not put the word "the" before FAA unless you are beginning a sentence with the abbreviation. This standard eliminates wordiness in documents and complies with plain language principles. When writing out the name of the agency in a sentence, refer to it as "the Federal Aviation Administration."

Do Not Use Italics or Underlines

Usability research shows that plain text is easiest on the eyes and italics decrease readability for people with disabilities. The research also shows that underlining regular text confuses and disappoints visitors who expect to link to another page by clicking on the underlined text.

• For emphasis, use bold (<strong> tags) instead.
• For titles, use hyperlinks where possible to guide readers to more details.

For more information, see Jakob Nielsen's usability website.