Formatting
Check the Associated Press (AP) Stylebook for general questions.
Guidelines on this Page:
- Academic Course Listings
- Ampersand (&)
- Campuses
- Contact Information
- Dates (See Seasons, Dates & Times: Dates)
- Email Addresses
- Headings
- Hours of Operation
- Links
- Lists
- Ends of Sentences
- Telephone Numbers (See Numbers: Telephone Numbers)
- Text Formatting
Academic Course Listings
List courses in bullet list format and in alphanumeric order when possible.
However, automatic feeds from the Catalog (Acalog) cannot be edited.
Format: Course Prefix(hyphen)Course Number (space) Course Title
- DANC-1147 Jazz Dance I
- DANC-1149 Ballet Folklorico I
Ampersand (&)
Always spell out and in text.
Use an ampersand for approved wordmarks or logos.
- Yes: Corporate Solutions & Economic Development
- Yes: You need eye safety glasses and a calculator for science lab.
- No: You need eye safety glasses & a calculator for science lab.
Campuses
See also:
- Capitalization: Campus
- Abbreviations & Acronyms: Campus Names
When you list campuses, put them in alphabetical order:
- Northeast Campus
- Northwest Campus
- South Campus
- Southeast Campus
- Trinity River Campus
- Trinity River Campus East
- TCC Connect Campus
Contact Information
Contact Section at the Bottom of Web Pages
See also:
- Capitalization: Buildings, Centers & Locations, Email addresses
- Formatting: Contacts
Contact Section at the Bottom of Webpages
District Admissions and Services have dedicated departmental contact pages.
In other cases, contact information is listed at the bottom of webpages under the heading Contact.
List contacts by campus in alphabetical order as listed above.
All Possible Contact Elements
Enter the applicable information in this order:
- Campus
- Department or Division
- Contact person’s name, title
- Building, Room number
- Phone number
- Video phone number
- Fax number
- Email address
Examples:
Trinity River Campus
Artrese Hartman, Program Coordinator
817-515-1071
artrese.hartman@tccd.edu
Northwest Campus
Public Safety Training Center
Steve Keller, Director
817-515-7362
steve.keller@tccd.edu
Do Not Post
- Individual photos of faculty or staff
- Biographical information for faculty or staff
Dates
See Seasons, Dates & Times: Dates
Email Addresses
See also Capitalization: Email Addresses
Names should never be hyperlinked to an email address on our site.
- Yes: You can email Mary Jones (mary.jones@tccd.edu) for more information.
- No: You can email Mary Jones for more information.
Headings
See also Capitalization: Headings
Do not use heading styles to format text in larger, bold, or colorful fonts.
Headings have important functions. They:
- Organize and chunk content
- Help visitors scan text to find the section they need
- Help visitors who use assistive technologies more easily navigate webpages
Hours of Operation
See also Seasons, Dates & Times: Time Spans
Format
Spell out the day or span of days:
day(en dash)day: (space) hour open(en dash)hour close
Yes:
Monday–Thursday: 8 a.m.–7 p.m.
Friday: 9 a.m.–6:30 p.m.
Saturday: 9 a.m.–1 p.m.
Links
Use links to direct our visitors to relevant content on our website, other TCC systems, or external websites.
Link Text
Write text that—on its own, without additional context—describes a link’s purpose or destination.
Avoid generic link text such as:
- Click here
- Read this
- Here
- Learn more
Visitors who use assistive technology can get a list of links that are on a webpage. Link text that is as meaningful as possible will help them choose from the list of links. Meaningful link text also helps visitors who want to tab from link to link.
Write the sentence as you normally would—without thinking about the link specifically–and then link the appropriate words.
- Yes: Learn more about how to apply for financial aid. You can also apply for our available scholarships.
- No: Learn more about how to apply for financial aid. Click here to find out more. You can also apply for our available scholarships. Click here to find out more.
When the first mention of an organization is linked, write out that entity’s full name and include any abbreviations or acronyms in the link text.
- Example: The Joint Review Committee on Education in Radiologic Technology (JRCERT) is our accrediting agency.
Link the abbreviation or acronym upon second mention.
- Example:JRCERT collects completion rates, credentialing examination pass rates and job placement rates for accredited programs.
Do not use URLs as link text.
- Yes: Go to MyTCCTrack to see a list of courses offered.
- No: Go to https://selfservice.tccd.edu/Student/ to view the current class offerings.
If you must use the URL for link text (i.e., to comply with accreditation rules), omit the https://.
- Yes: For more information about licensure requirements, refer to the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy website at www.fsbpt.org.
- No: For more information about licensure requirements, refer to the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy website at https://www.fsbpt.org/.
If a link comes before a comma, colon or at the end of a sentence, do not include the punctuation mark in the link.
- Yes: Our program is approved by the Association of Nutrition and Foodservice Professionals.
- No: Our program is approved by the Association of Nutrition and Foodservice Professionals.
Link Behavior
Internal links are links between pages on our main website (www.tccd.edu).
- Set internal links to open in the same window.
External links are links between pages on our main website and MyTCCTrack, insideTCC (the intranet), Canvas, or websites that belong to other entities.
- Set external links to open in a new window.
Links to Documents
Avoid posting documents (e.g., PDF, PowerPoint, Excel, and Word) on the website when possible. Linked documents pose accessibility and usability difficulties, and they are not easily searchable.
Choose PDF over Word format when possible.
Set links to documents to open in a new window. Add the document type to the link text—in parentheses and in uppercase italics. Do not add a period.
- Putting the document type in the link text lets those who use screen readers know that the link opens a document and not another webpage.
Examples:
- Yes: Read the Dental Hygiene A.A.S. Degree Plan (PDF) to see the courses you will take.
- No: Read the Dental Hygiene A.A.S. Degree Plan to see the courses you will take.
- Yes: Fiscal Year 2020–2021 (DOCX)
- No: Fiscal Year 2020–2021 (docx)
If you have a list of linked documents of the same file type, you can add the file type to each link.
- Perkins Core Indicator Data Resources 2018-2019 (PDF)
- Perkins Core Indicator Data Resources 2019-2020 (PDF)
- Perkins Core Indicator Data Resources 2020-2021 (PDF)
If more appropriate, post the statement below to cover group(s) of PDF links:
- All documents below are PDF and will open in a new window.
Lists
See also Punctuation: Colons
Use lists to structure content for easy reading, especially when you have several items, steps, or options.
Use list Word's list formatting or HTML list mark-up.
Do not:
- Tab or indent and type a bullet or number
- Use list format for indenting or other layout purposes
List Types
Unordered List (Bullets)
Use when the sequence of the items (words, phrases, or sentences) does not matter.
Yes:
You will need chemistry for the following areas of study:
- Programs in allied health professions
- Degrees in medicine
- Science and engineering
Ordered List (Numbers or Letters)
Use for step-by-step instructions or when the sequence of the items (words, phrases, or sentences) is important.
Yes:
How to print your Class Schedule and Fee Statement:
- Log in to MyTCCTrack
- Select Students
- Select Schedule and Fee Statement (located in the Financial Information section)
- Select the term from the list (for example: 2020SU, 2020FL, 2021SP)
- Select Submit
- Select Click to Print
List Structure
Use a colon at the end of the introduction to a list.
Yes:
Each campus provides a testing center and offers a variety of tests, which may include:
- TSI Assessment
- College Level Examination Program (CLEP)
- Credit-by-Exam (CBE)
List Item Structure
List items can be words, phrases, or complete sentences.
Capitalize the first word in each list item.
Use parallel grammatical structure for each bullet point. In other words, make sure your structure each item in a list in the same way.
Reading and understanding a list takes more time and effort when each bullet point has a different sentence structure.
Yes:
To transfer to TCC, follow these steps:
- Complete and submit your application online with ApplyTCC
- Apply for financial aidas early as possible
- Get a meningitis vaccination (mv) and submit your MV record 10 days before the semester starts
- Schedule an appointment with a career advisor is important for a successful transfer
No:
To transfer to TCC, follow these steps:
- You start by completing and submitting your application online with ApplyTCC
- Our recommendation is that you apply for financial aid as early as possible
- After you get a meningitis vaccination (MV), submit your MV record at least 10 days before the semester starts
- Scheduling an appointment with a career advisor is important for a successful transfer
End of Sentences
Use one space after the punctuation at the end of sentence.
Telephone Numbers
See Numbers: Telephone Numbers
Text Formatting
Bold
Use sparingly and strategically. If everything is bold, nothing stands out.
Apply to the minimum words needed to communicate the gist of the passage to a visitor who is scanning the page. Aim for no more than 3 to 4 words in row.
Bold the colon following a bold word or phrase.
- Yes: Location: South Campus Library
- No: Location: Northwest Campus Library
Italic
Use italics for the open-in-a-new-window message.
- Yes: All documents are PDF and will open in a new window.
Otherwise, avoid using italics because italicized text is difficult to read, especially for visitors those who have visual impairments.
Follow the AP Style Guide for formatting titles of creative works.
Underline
Do not underline text for emphasis.
Underlines still communicate that text is a link. Selecting underlined text that does not open a link frustrates visitors.
- Yes: If you do not attend the mandatory orientation, you will not be accepted to our program.
- No: If you do not attend the mandatory orientation, you will not be accepted to our program.
Uppercase (All-Capitals)
Do not format text in all capitals—even a word or 2 for emphasis.
All-uppercase text can be difficult for some visitors to read. Also, all-uppercase text still communicates shouting.
- Yes: Credit earned cannot exceed 40 percent of the technical courses required for an Associate of Applied Science Degree.
- No: Credit earned CANNOT EXCEED 40 PERCENT of the technical courses required for an Associate of Applied Science Degree.
Bold, Italic, Underline & Uppercase
Do not combine underline, italic, bold and all-capitals in any way.
- Yes: You must complete all the financial aid forms to be considered.
- No: You must complete all the financial aid forms to be considered.
- No: You must complete all the financial aid forms to be considered.
- No: You must complete all the financial aid forms to be considered.
- No: You must complete ALL the financial aid forms to be considered.
- No: You must complete ALL the financial aid forms to be considered
Alignment
Left-align text.
Never center or right-align text.
Yes: Left-align text
No: Centered text
is hard
to read.
No: Right-aligned text
can also be
hard to read.
Updated March 27, 2023