Guide to Producing Successful Communications Products: Supplement to the Federal Highway Administration
Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center R&D Communication Reference Guide
CHAPTER 3. STYLE GUIDELINES FOR ALL PRODUCTS
Chapter 2 provided a summary of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Office of Public Affairs (HPA) approval role for Office of Operations (HOP) products in the conceptual stages. This chapter, and the two that follow, will discuss style and editorial content guidelines in the creation of HOP products. Appendix B of this guide offers a HOP Project Manager Product Review Checklist as a resource to highlight the most common style, formatting, and editorial errors found in drafts but it is not meant to be an exhaustive list.
The HOP Project Manager (PM) has the responsibility for ensuring that the Contractor has followed the standards included in this Office of Operations Guide to Producing Successful Communications Products supplement to the FHWA's Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center R&D Communication Reference Guide and the U.S. Government Publishing Office Style Manual standards. Any HOP product that a HOP PM forwards through the HOP/Office of the Chief Counsel (HCC)/HPA approval processes carries his/her endorsement that the product is in final form and ready for public release.
This chapter will describe Federal Government Plain Language standards and the current Federal government/agency/HOP prescribed, recommended, and optional standards for the layout of guidance and technical reports. Future products layouts may be described in subsequent updated versions of the Office of Operations Guide to Producing Successful Communications Products.
All Federal agencies are required to use "clear Government communication that the public can understand and use." Subsequently, an Executive Order, "E.O. 13563 – Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review (https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2011-01-21/pdf/2011-1385.pdf)" was issued stating "[our regulatory system] must ensure that regulations are accessible, consistent, written in plain language, and easy to read."
The Federal Plain Language Guidelines (http://www.plainlanguage.gov/howto/guidelines/FederalPLGuidelines/index.cfm) was developed to assist with writing for an audience's current level of knowledge. Identifying who an audience is and what they want to know will have a positive outcome for a clearly written document.
Refer to the Plain Language Web site (http://www.plainlanguage.gov) for more detailed information.
Table 1 shows examples of "before and after" using common everyday words. You can find additional options at http://www.plainlanguage.gov/howto/wordsuggestions/simplewords.cfm.
Table 1. "Before and After" examples.
|
Bureaucratic |
Better |
commence |
begin |
endeavor |
try |
furthermore |
also |
presently |
now |
provided that |
if |
prior to |
before |
retain |
keep |
whereas |
since |
utilize |
use |
(Source: FHWA News April-May 2001, http://staffnet.fhwa.dot.gov/fhwanews/may01/fyi3.htm.)
The Plain Language "Simple Words and Phrases" webpage, http://www.plainlanguage.gov/howto/wordsuggestions/simplewords.cfm, displays a list of overused complex words, as well as suggested simpler replacement words.
HOP staff and Contractor should produce materials that keep the user in mind at all times. To that end, HOP highly recommends the following standards:
- There are no typos.
- Acronyms are barriers to understanding and should be spelled out:
- In tables of contents.
- In titles and headings.
- The first time they appear in the product.
- At the beginning of each chapter.
- Synonyms are deployed whenever possible and appropriate in place of frequently used words (terms like "support" and "develop") to make the content more interesting to read.
- The product uses the lowest possible quotient of passive voice, so as not to inadvertently undercut proactive messaging. (The HOP Project Manager should review the product to assure the Contractor clearly understands the meaning of passive voice.)
- Graphics follow data visualization techniques whenever possible to best communicate valuable information.
- Report is visually compelling in a way that will attract a user and clearly underscore the content.
- Formatting is consistent.
- Tables and bulleted content use parallel sentence construction.
- There is no unacceptable content, such as advocacy language or endorsement of private businesses or products.
The following items are additional style guidelines for all HOP products, primarily technical reports and guidance. Not all HOP products will have these elements:
- Type Arrangement and Typefaces
- Volume Format
- Pagination
- Lists
- Footnotes
The below referenced text will explain further HOP style guidelines.
- The preferred font for technical report content is black or dark blue Times New Roman, sized at 12 point for both headings and text. However, if the HOP PM recommends another font, he or she may confer with the Information Specialist—who is a publishing format expert—during conceptual phase. Additionally, figures/tables/charts, etc. may use alternative font styles that are legible and appropriate.
- Type styles in the text will match those in the front matter and in the table of contents for all headings and subheadings. This requirement includes font, capitalization, punctuation, bolding, italics, and other attributes.
- Margins must be at least one inch on all sides, including pages with figures and tables.
- Single-spacing is preferred, provided that superscript and subscript do not touch the next line of type. Use the superscript and subscript features in Microsoft Word.(sample superscript)
- Paragraphs are not indented.
- There should be two returns (i.e., one blank line) between paragraphs.
- Right margins should not be justified because type with ragged margins is easier to read and edit.
- Product must be able to be legibly printed on a laser or letter-quality printer.
- Report should feature words that are correctly divided, mathematical symbols or formulas are not divided between lines, and spacing is not excessive or erratic.
- Content should not have widows and orphans (i.e., a single line of text at the top or bottom of a page).
- Special math or scientific fonts in equations and formulas should be converted into a .jpg, .bmp, or .gif graphic and inserted into the document as a figure. Not all computers, printers, and operating systems can interpret special math and scientific fonts.
The term "volume" designates an individually bound book. When a report exceeds 400 pages (including figures, tables, appendices, and front matter), it should be divided into two or more individual volumes, with each containing a separate publication number and Roman numeral (Volume I, Volume II, etc.) as part of the subtitle. It should also be listed on the Technical Report Documentation Page (form DOT F 1700.7) in the abstract portion of the form. Indicate the following information within the abstract:
This volume is the first in a series. The other volume in the series is: FHWA-HOP-##-### Volume II: Name of Publication.
Consult with the Information Specialist during conceptual phase for further guidance on publishing format if needed.
- The Technical Report Documentation Page (form DOT F 1700.7) is always Page i but the number should not be printed on the page. (Refer to Appendix C for a sample Form DOT F 1700.7 "Technical Report Documentation Page").
- The product should include front matter in the page count in the total number of pages (block 21) of the form 1700.7.
- Front matter should use lower case Roman numerals such as ii, iii, etc. Start numbering with Arabic "1" at the introduction or, if there is no introduction, at the start of chapter 1.
- Use only one series of Arabic numbers from the first page of the report to the last. Do not number appendix pages as A-l, B-l, etc.
- Decimal numbers, hyphenated numbers, or numbers combined with letters for chapters, sections, or subsections should not be used as page numbers. Minimize the use of paragraph and subparagraph numbers.
- Page numbers should be centered for consistent appearance in single- and double-sided printing. Page numbers should appear 0.5 inches up from the bottom edge of each page and should stand alone with no dash on either side of the number.
- Chapters must begin on the right-hand page (i.e., an odd-numbered page). Insert blank pages where needed to achieve this effect. Blank pages are counted in the page number sequence, but no number is printed on the page. Do not label "this page intentionally left blank" when adding a blank page to start a new chapter on a right-hand page. Individual chapters, appendices, etc., will not have title pages.
- Apply bullet points to lists unless the sequence of items is critical, in which case Arabic (1, 2, 3, etc.) numerals followed by periods and one space may be substituted for bullets.
- Place a colon at the end of the text sentence preceding the list.
- Use the standard (Microsoft Word) round bullets and be consistent throughout the product.
- Deploy parallel grammatical structure. (For example, in this list, all bulleted entries begin with a present tense verb.)
- Begin each entry with a capital letter.
- End each entry with a period when it forms a complete sentence.
- Do not end the next-to-last item with "and" or "or."
- Put two returns (i.e., one blank line) after the bulleted list. Short bulleted items (words, phrases, sentences) should be followed by a single return. Long bulleted items (paragraphs) should be followed by two returns.
- Use superscript figures without parentheses or brackets for footnote references.
- In each chapter, footnotes to text are numbered starting with "1." Footnotes to tables or figures begin with 1 for each table or figure. Use superscript numbers.
- Footnotes must begin on the page carrying the footnote number. Avoid breaking a footnote between pages.
- Footnotes should be single spaced. Indent the first line of each footnote by 0.25 inches.
- Asterisks, daggers, or italic superior letters may be used only when a numeral in a table or figure might cause confusion, such as being mistaken for an exponent.
A product file name title should spell out the name of the product, version number, use no special characters, and include the month and year.
