Basic Content
- Content uses clear & simple language.
- Sentences are limited to 25 words or less.
- A variety of sentence lengths are used.
- Long words (those with 4 or more syllables) are only used when necessary.
- Paragraphs are short. No more than 4-5 lines.
- Contractions are used.
- Proper grammar is used.
- Writing is at a 5th-grade reading level (ideal). No higher than 9th-grade.
- Majority of the text is left aligned.
- No fancy formatting is used.
- No strikethrough text.
- No double-space sentences. One space between the period and the start of the next sentence is used.
- No justified text.
- Only one language is used within the content.
- No underlined text.
- No words in all caps.
Headings
- Each page has exactly one h1 tag as the first heading on the page.
- Proper heading order is used. (No jumping from h2 to h4.)
- Only acronyms are written in all caps.
- No headings are used for the purpose of styling text.
Links & Buttons
- Links are clearly understood. (“Click here” is poor link text. “Read my article about dinosaurs” is a better link text.)
- Links are not stylized.
- Links are not underlined unless your document tool automatically creates them.
Images
- Images are sourced from content that is owned by the website or from paid image locations.
- Free stock photos are avoided.
- Images are name appropriately.
- Captions are used when appropriate (when you want to identify something in the image for all users, such as a person or place).
- Avoid embedding images within your document. Just reference which image should be included.
- No symbols, emojis, or memes.
- No animated gifs.
- No text overlayed on an image.