Online Style Guide

The information found in the Online Style Guide was created to serve as a quick style guide for University faculty and staff who may be writing communication material for online. The suggestions listed here will help to develop a consistent style to present information to our audiences.

However, this online style guide is not intended to apply to research, academic or scholarly writing, documents and publications. Please contact your faculty concerning the style guide for specialized publications and reports.

Authorities

The following books and online resources were consulted when preparing the information found in the Online Style Guide:

• Canadian Press (CP) Stylebook
• Canadian Press (CP) Caps and Spelling
• Oxford Canadian Dictionary of Current English
• Canadian Council for the Advancement of Education’s English Language Style Guide
• Online style guides from universities across Canada and the United States

Writing Tips

The following steps can help you when writing for either print or online:

1. Know your audience
   Who will be reading your writing? Why are they reading this document? What do you want them to know, learn or do after reading? Answering these questions will help determine what you need to write.
   
   
2. Identify content
   What information is required to meet your audience’s needs?
   
   
3. Organize your content
   Determine what information should appear where. Chunk (i.e., edit and group) the information you’ve gathered during your research to allow for easy comprehension by readers.