D
dashes and hyphens
You can use a dash if you want to set off an idea or create emphasis within a sentence. If you want to do this, make sure you use an en-dash (–) rather than an em-dash (—) or hyphen (-).
When you’re showing a date range, you should write ‘to’ rather than using a dash or hyphen, for example ‘2021 to 2022’.
dates
Our preferred date format should always be DD Month YYYY (6 June 2022) and we should aim to use this format wherever space allows.
If space is an issue, we can use truncated months (Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr) but we should always maintain the full year.
Here are some other important date rules we should always follow:
- Use ‘to’ rather than a dash or hyphen to break up a date range (‘2021 to 2022’ not ‘2021-2022’)
- Don’t add a ‘0’ before a single digit day (6 June 2022 not 06 June 2022)
- Don’t add a comma to separate the year (7 June 2022 not 7 June, 2022)
- Don’t use ordinal indicators (8 June 2022 not 8th June 2022)
defined benefit
Lower case – no need to capitalise. Also known as a final salary pension.
defined contribution
Lower case – no need to capitalise. Can also be abbreviated to ‘DC’ if you’re referring to it more than once on a page or screen.
See abbreviations and acronyms for more information on how to do this.
Direct Debit
Unlike standing order, Direct Debit is a proper noun and should always be capitalised.
E
ellipses
Avoid these (…) wherever possible. If a tile or component cuts off the end of a sentence, rewrite the sentence to make it shorter.
This should always be lower case with no hyphen (so not Email or e-mail).
email address
Always lower case – although it’s fine to be capitalised if it’s a label in a form.
enrol
We enrol in the UK – not enroll (two l’s) like we do in the US.
ESG
This stands for ‘environmental, social and governance’. As ESG isn’t a commonly known acronym, it should always be written out in full first before introducing the acronym.
See abbreviations and acronyms for more information on how to do this.
etc
Rewrite your sentence to avoid using this Latin term.
example or eg
Write out ‘for example’ in full rather than eg or e.g.
exclamation marks
Avoid these – unless you want to look like you’re shouting at our users!
F
Faster Payments
The Faster Payments service should be capitalised. But if you’re talking generally about making faster payments, it should be lower case.
FCA
Not every user will know about the Financial Conduct Authority – so we should introduce the full name first then use the abbreviated term (FCA) afterwards.
See abbreviations and acronyms for more information on how to do this.
First or second person?
We should always speak about ourselves in the first person (we and our), and in most cases, speak to our users in the second person (you and your).
There may be times where it’s best to use the first person for users, for example when we’re asking them to agree to terms and conditions (‘I confirm I…’).
The most important thing, as always, is to maintain consistency and avoid confusing our users by going between first and second person.
FTSE 100
Always capitalised and no need to explain what FTSE stands for.
full stops
Complete sentences within body copy should always have full stops at the end. In most cases, headings, subheadings and CTA buttons should never have full stops at the end.