The official content style guide of 18F
Changing government writing, one sentence at a time.
Government writing — at least as it exists in stereotype — is notoriously dense, formal, and jargon rich. Recognizing this, the 18F content guild maintains a style guide to help "writers create content that’s easy to understand and meets people where they are." We write to people using people-friendly language and offer strategies to help others do the same. Our goal? To promote plain language usage not just within 18F, but across all of government.
I started work on the first version of the guide shortly after joining 18F (2014), writing sections as time allowed. As more content designers and strategists joined the design team, I assembled the core group that built out the guide as it exists today. In August 2015, I joined a select group of 18F designers in Chicago for a rebranding retreat, during which time I wrote the voice and tone guidance for our organization.
Drawing on Gov.UK's content guidance, the MailChimp Content Style Guide, the Conscious Style Guide, and other sources, our guide offers clear, easy-to-adopt content strategies that appeal to new and seasoned designers alike. We love getting feedback on our work — drop us a line if you have thoughts on sections we could add or improve.
Roles: Project lead, guide contributor (18F)
View my work: 18F Content Guide
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