diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md index 00a371d3c..88905ba63 100644 --- a/CHANGELOG.md +++ b/CHANGELOG.md @@ -1,5 +1,18 @@ # NHS digital service manual Changelog +## 1.9.0 - Unreleased + +:new: **New content** + +- Add more guidance for content designers to the care card page +- Add "red book" and inclusive language terms to A to Z of NHS health writing + +:wrench: **Fixes** + +- Update inclusive language page in content style guide, especially guidance on sex, gender and sexuality +- Change "measurement" to "measurements" in Numbers, measurements, dates and time - and update links to this page +- Improve wording about ordinal numbers on Numbers, measurements, dates and time + ## 1.8.0 - 09 August 2019 :new: **New content** diff --git a/README.md b/README.md index ed9d7ad8f..651dbef52 100755 --- a/README.md +++ b/README.md @@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ Run the project in development mode `npm run watch` and visit affects

It’s alright to use "affects" but in some contexts, for example with medicines, it can be better to say that "something changes the way something else works".

Check a dictionary if you’re not sure of the difference between "affect" and "effect".

+

age

+

Read about how we talk about age on the Inclusive language page.

ageing

Not "aging".

alternative

@@ -224,7 +226,7 @@

condition

We use "condition", "problem" or "illness".

We avoid words like "disease" and "disorder" as they can sound negative. But we do use these words in the names of specific diseases or disorders, like Alzheimer’s disease or obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) or terms like "tropical diseases".

-

See the section on conditions in Inclusive language.

+

Read about how we talk about disabilities and conditions on the Inclusive language page.

continuing healthcare

Lower case and "healthcare" is one word.

We explain NHS continuing healthcare on the NHS website.

@@ -240,16 +242,20 @@

D

dates

-

See our guidance on numbers, measurement, dates and time.

+

See our guidance on dates on the Numbers, measurements, dates and time page.

degrees (temperature)

We use C for centigrade or Celsius – for example, 38C or −4C. Do not include the degree symbol (°).

We are no longer including references to Fahrenheit.

Also see fever and temperature.

diabetic

-

We don’t talk about people as "diabetic". We say they have diabetes. See the section on conditions in Inclusive language.

+

We don’t talk about people as "diabetic". We say they have diabetes.

We do use "diabetic" in phrases like "diabetic eye screening".

+

Read more about how we talk about disabilities and conditions on the Inclusive language page.

+

dietitian

Not dietician.

+

disabilities

+

We use positive language to talk about disabilities. Read more about how we talk about disabilities and conditions on our Inclusive language page.

diuretics

We don’t call them "water tablets". We explain that diuretics are "tablets that make you pee more".

DNA

@@ -258,7 +264,7 @@

We mostly use "GP". But where someone may see either a GP or another health professional, for example in hospital, we use "doctor".

Also see "specialist".

dosage

-

See dosage in our guidance on numbers, measurement, dates and time.

+

See dosage on our Numbers, measurements, dates and time page.

drugs

We use "medicines".

We only use "drugs" for illegal drugs.

@@ -276,7 +282,8 @@

eg

eg can sometimes be read aloud as "egg" by screen readers. We prefer "for example" or "such as" or "like" or "including" – whichever works best.

epileptic

-

We don’t talk about people as "epileptics". We say they have epilepsy. See the section on conditions in Inclusive language.

+

We don’t talk about people as "epileptics". We say they have epilepsy.

+

Read more about how we talk about conditions on the Inclusive language page.

equivalent

We use "equal to".

etc

@@ -326,7 +333,7 @@

foundation trust

Lower case, unless you are giving the full name of a foundation trust. For example: Anytown NHS Foundation Trust.

fractions

-

See our guidance on numbers, measurement, dates and time.

+

See our guidance on fractions on the Numbers, measurements, dates and time page.

G

gas

We don't use "gas". Instead we talk about "wind", "burping" or "farting".

+

gender

+

Read about how we talk about gender on the Inclusive language page.

GP

Where someone may see either a GP or another health professional, for example in hospital, use "doctor".

GP surgery

@@ -381,7 +390,7 @@

Only use "immunisation" for the Public Health England (PHE) immunisation programme or Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).

We use "vaccination" otherwise.

imperial measurements

-

See the guidance in numbers, measurement, dates and time.

+

See the guidance on metric and imperial measurements on the Numbers, measurements, dates and time page.

incurable

We avoid "incurable". Instead we say "cannot be cured".

injection

@@ -427,14 +436,14 @@

M

mad cow disease

We use "CJD".

-

measurement

-

See our guidance on numbers, measurement, dates and time.

+

measurements

+

See the section on measurements on the Numbers, measurements, dates and time page.

medical record

We prefer "health record".

medication

We use "medicine".

metric measurements

-

See the guidance in numbers, measurement, dates and time.

+

See the guidance on metric and imperial measurements on the Numbers, measurements, dates and time page.

microgram

Write "microgram" in full. Do not shorten it to "mcg".

It helps to explain that a microgram is 1,000 times smaller than a milligram (mg).

@@ -482,7 +491,7 @@

We use "usually".

"Normally" in a health context can make people feel they aren’t "normal".

numbers

-

See our guidance on numbers, measurement, dates and time.

+

See our guidance on numbers, measurements, dates and time.

We prefer "people" for content aimed at the general public but we sometimes use "patients" if the word "people" might be confusing, for example, where we need to distinguish patients from the general public.

"Patients" may also be more suitable in content for health professionals.

percentages

-

See our guidance on numbers, measurement, dates and time.

+

See our guidance on fractions and percentages on the Numbers, measurements, dates and time page.

persist

We use "carry on" or "keep going".

personal child health record (red book)

@@ -567,11 +576,15 @@

R

+

race

+

Read about how we talk about race, ethnicity, religion and nationality on the Inclusive language page.

radiographer or radiologist

Radiographers take X-rays. Radiologists read them.

rectum

We prefer "bottom" or "anus". Only use "rectum" when the other alternatives aren't clear enough, for example when talking about surgery to remove part of the rectum.

We found that people don't search for "rectum" in Google as much as other terms.

+

red book

+

See personal child health record (red book).

reduce pain

We say "help with pain" or "ease the pain".

reduced kidney function

@@ -602,6 +615,8 @@

setting

We avoid the term "hospital setting". We just say "in hospital".

Instead of "community setting", we mention the place, for example, "in school", "in a clinic" or "at home".

+

sex and sexuality

+

Read about how we talk about sex, gender and sexuality on the Inclusive language page.

sexual health clinic

We use "sexual health clinic", not "STI clinic".

Sexual health clinics can offer different services. So, when we mention them for the first time and are talking about STIs, we sometimes add that they may also be called "GUM clinics". When we are talking about contraception, we sometimes add that they may also be called "family planning or contraception clinics".

@@ -621,7 +636,7 @@

We generally use the word "specialist" for consultants and other specialist medical professions. For example, we use "a heart specialist" instead of "a cardiologist".

Also see "doctor".

statistics

-

See our guidance on numbers, measurement, dates and time.

+

See our guidance on statistics on the Numbers, measurements, dates and time page.

STI

You might want to spell out "sexually transmitted infection" the first time you mention it. Otherwise it’s fine to use the abbreviation STI.

We talk about "a" sexually transmitted infection but "an" STI.

@@ -635,7 +650,7 @@

See poo.

suffering from

We don’t use "suffering from". We talk about people having or living with a disability or condition.

-

See the section on disabilities and conditions in Inclusive language.

+

Read more about how we talk about disabilities and conditions on the Inclusive language page.

summary care record

Lower case. Also see health record.

surgery

@@ -666,7 +681,7 @@

terminal

We use "terminal" when a condition or illness is likely to lead to death. We find that people with cancer, for example, often use this word.

time

-

See our guidance on numbers, measurement, dates and time.

+

See our guidance on time on the Numbers, measurements, dates and time page.

tranquillise and tranquilliser

Note the double "ll". We use the British spelling with "s", not "z".

try to

diff --git a/app/views/content/inclusive-language.njk b/app/views/content/inclusive-language.njk index b1922aa11..eee733d25 100644 --- a/app/views/content/inclusive-language.njk +++ b/app/views/content/inclusive-language.njk @@ -31,7 +31,7 @@
-

Disabilities and conditions

+

Disabilities and conditions

We use positive language and don't label people when talking about disabilities and conditions.

We do say things like:

-

NHS digital services should be accessible to everyone who needs them. Read more about writing for accessibility in the digital service manual.

-

Mental health

+

NHS digital services should be accessible to everyone who needs them. Read our guidance on accessibility for content designers, writers and editors in the digital service manual.

+

Mental health

We do not describe people as mentally ill.

We do say:

-

Race, ethnicity, religion and nationality

-

We only refer to people's heritage or religion if it's relevant to the content.

+

Race, ethnicity, religion and nationality

+

We only refer to people's ethnic heritage or religion if it's relevant to the content.

For example:

{{ insetText({ "HTML": "

You're more at risk of developing type 2 diabetes if you are over 40 - or 25 for south Asian people.

" }) }} -

Gender and sexuality

-

We make content gender neutral wherever possible.

+

Sex, gender and sexuality

+

Only mention sex, gender or sexuality if relevant.

+

Gender neutral language

+

We make content gender neutral wherever possible. Avoid gender markers, such as Mr, Miss, Mrs, or Ms.

We do not label people with their gender identity or sexuality. Instead we say:

+

We use "trans woman" for someone who was assigned male at birth and "trans man" for someone who was assigned female at birth. We use "trans woman" or "trans man" in content about the particular health needs of trans people - for example, screening or treatments that trans people need to be aware of, like advising a trans man about cervical and breast screening.

+

Otherwise we use "trans" as an umbrella term to cover the diverse range of identities outside the traditional male/female definitions. These include transgender, gender fluid and non-binary.

+

They

It's alright to use "they" to avoid "he or she" or where you need a gender-neutral pronoun.

For example:

{{ insetText({ - "HTML": "

You should see your GP if you have persistent symptoms of osteoarthritis so they can confirm the diagnosis and prescribe any necessary treatment.

" + "HTML": "

You should see the GP if you have persistent symptoms of osteoarthritis so they can confirm the diagnosis and prescribe any necessary treatment.

" }) }} -

Age

-

We do not say old age pensioner, pensioner or OAP.

+

When to use "sex" and when to use "gender"

+

Sex is biological – male, female or intersex.

+

We use "sex" or, better still, the body part associated with biological sex when we're writing about things like screening that is sex specific, for example, breast and cervical screening.

+

Gender is more complex. It's about social and legal status and social expectations. It's also about how people feel and think about themselves.

+

Someone may see themselves as a man, a woman or neither (non-binary). They may identify with a gender opposite to the sex they were assigned at birth or neither.

+

We use "gender" when we're:

+ +

Age

+

Only include age if relevant, for example, with vaccination, screening or testing programmes where age determines eligibility. An example of this is chlamydia testing as tests are free for under-25s.

+

Here are some of the terms we use for different stages of life with some guidance about the ages they relate to.

+

When you need to be more specific, for example if you're writing about medicines dosage, give the actual age. For example, "teenagers aged 16 and over".

We use:

+

With babies and toddlers, we count their age in weeks up until 6 months, then months up until 2 years.

+

We do not use the words:

+ +
-

Updated: August 2018

+

Updated: August 2019

-

Numbers, measurement, dates and time

+

Numbers, measurements, dates and time

With dosage, temperature, and statistics.

diff --git a/app/views/content/numbers-measurement-dates-time.njk b/app/views/content/numbers-measurements-dates-time.njk similarity index 93% rename from app/views/content/numbers-measurement-dates-time.njk rename to app/views/content/numbers-measurements-dates-time.njk index dbc1b6606..01f9ba3f7 100644 --- a/app/views/content/numbers-measurement-dates-time.njk +++ b/app/views/content/numbers-measurements-dates-time.njk @@ -1,4 +1,4 @@ -{% set pageTitle = 'Numbers, measurement, dates and time' %} +{% set pageTitle = 'Numbers, measurements, dates and time' %} {% set pageSection = 'Content style guide' %} {% set pageDescription = 'Content styles, including numerals, ordinals, dosage, temperature, fractions and percentages' %} @@ -33,7 +33,7 @@

On this page

-

Examples of where we don't use numerals

+

Examples of where we do not use numerals

We do not use numerals in some medicines information about dosage because we've found they can be confusing.

Ordinal numbers (1st, 2nd, 3rd and so on)

-

We use ordinal numbers, for example in "your 1st visit".

-

Do not use superscript. It doesn't always read out correctly on screen readers and could confuse people.

+

We use numerals with letter suffixes for ordinal numbers, for example "1st", as in "your 1st visit".

+

Do not use superscript. It does not always read out correctly on screen readers and could confuse people.

-

Measurement

+

Measurements

Dosage

We do not use a space between amount and measurement.

Example: The usual dose is 250mg to 500mg.

diff --git a/app/views/content/partials/related-nav.njk b/app/views/content/partials/related-nav.njk index 4bc0edd19..277548f40 100644 --- a/app/views/content/partials/related-nav.njk +++ b/app/views/content/partials/related-nav.njk @@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ {% endif %} {% if pageTitle != 'Numbers, measurement, dates and time' %} {% endif %} {% if pageTitle != 'Formatting and punctuation' %} diff --git a/app/views/sitemap.njk b/app/views/sitemap.njk index a585081c3..02dae145f 100644 --- a/app/views/sitemap.njk +++ b/app/views/sitemap.njk @@ -76,7 +76,7 @@
  • Use a readability tool to prioritise content
  • -
  • Numbers, measurement, dates and time
  • +
  • Numbers, measurements, dates and time
  • Formatting and punctuation
  • Links and PDFs
  • diff --git a/app/views/styles-components-patterns/care-cards.njk b/app/views/styles-components-patterns/care-cards.njk index e24150561..f33af199d 100644 --- a/app/views/styles-components-patterns/care-cards.njk +++ b/app/views/styles-components-patterns/care-cards.njk @@ -84,10 +84,10 @@

    When to use care cards

    Use care cards to tell users to take action to get medical advice or help.

    When not to use care cards

    -

    Don't use care cards:

    +

    Do not use care cards:

    If you want: