We treat content as a physical representation of our mission to encourage people to take control of their carbon footprint. This implies that each and every piece of material we create must be of genuine value to the community.
By creating high-quality, thoroughly researched, and useful content, we aim to advance the field of user understanding. Everything we produce — blog posts, help documentation, and social media posts — is the result of time, effort, and research with a persistent commitment to excellence. Our material makes an effort to reflect our brand values.
Try and follow the Web Accessibility Initiative’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. User descriptive but clear link text, and always add alt text to images. This also really helps SEO.
Any imagery should add to the content it sits beside.
We use British English (as opposed to U.S. English/Australian English) by default. Here are some examples:
An extensive list of examples can be found here.
SKOOT adheres to Hart’s Rules of writing unless otherwise specified in this document.
Use bulleted or numbered lists, never dashes. When writing a bulleted list, use full stops at the end of each point when the bullet points are complete sentences. If each point is a word or short phrase, do not use full stops.
Amet minim mollit non deserunt ullamco est sit aliqua dolor do amet sint. Velit officia consequat duis enim velit mollit. Exercitation veniam consequat sunt nostrud amet.
Always proofread the article when it is saved as a draft on the website. Read, re-read and ask another colleague to read the article. Run the content through a service like Grammarly as an extra proofreading step.
Only publish the article when it has received approval.
When it comes to writing for social media, remember each platform has its own audience. Our content on these platforms should be written for the intended audience whilst following the guidelines outlines here.
Before you start drafting the article, think “why” are you writing it first. This helps identify the problem.
What should a user be able to achieve after reading this article?
Think about who this article is for. Is it for employers or their employees? Perhaps it's a potential customer or an existing customer. Each audience might have different requirements.
Preview the article as you add it to the help site. Pay attention to how it looks, how it is formatted, would images make it easier to understand and the overall length.
Some problems may require lengthy and complex solutions. Break up long articles that cover multiple, related topics into separate ones when appropriate.
Headings within the article can help a user navigate an article.
These are small text boxes which are styled to draw attention to a piece of information.
Links and contact links should be added to text, not as a direct link. Make sure the text has a very clear action.
Always proofread the article when it is saved as a draft on the website. Read, re-read and ask another colleague to read the article. Run the content through a service like Grammarly as an extra proofreading step.
Only publish the article when it has received approval.