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Content strategy guidance
Coronavirus.gov serves as an interagency portal for definitive public information from the White House Coronavirus Task Force. The FAQ website is a user-friendly resource that allows the public to obtain authoritative information to their most frequently asked questions regarding COVID-19, including community, medical and economic information. In order to keep operations running smoothly — and to keep the site in compliance with both best practice and federal law — GSA TTS recommends the following content strategy.
Content is written for the general public. Our goal is to provide accurate, up-to-date information that:
- Is simple, easy to understand, and written in plain language
- Answers questions and concerns as directly as possible about coronavirus (COVID-19)
- Puts the user first, and helps reduce uncertainty and pain in a challenging time
This site is not intended for specialist audiences (healthcare professionals, funeral home workers, etc.). Our style guide below provides additional guidance on how to write for this audience.
Should I stock up on food and supplies? Please only buy what your family needs for a week. Buying weeks or months of supplies in advance leads to shortages and makes it difficult for other families to take care of themselves. Consumer demand has been exceptionally high, especially for groceries, cleaning supplies, and healthcare products. Supply chains haven’t been disrupted, but stores need time to restock.
| What we're doing | Why it works |
|---|---|
| Questions are answered directly on the site. | To be the government’s definitive information source, people need to be able to get the info they need without clicking elsewhere. |
| Content focuses on the user, not the agency. | This makes it easier for people to identify the subject of the sentence and get clear, actionable guidance. |
| Headlines are written as questions. | This provides a consistent user experience for both searching and reading. |
| Content meets federal plain language guidelines. | This keeps us compliant with the Plain Writing Act of 2010 and 21st Century IDEA. (Note: clinical language is acceptable, but should be consistent across pages.) |
| Content is consistently styled. | This gives us clarity on things like abbreviations, capitalization, and pronouns. |
| Content follows accessibility best practices. | This makes the site available to everyone, including people using screen readers. |
The following guidelines, based on 18F best practice, are a few of the simplest ways to help this site better serve the general public. If you have questions about style that aren’t covered here, they may be covered in the 18F Content Guide.
Avoid whenever possible. If they must be used, spell them out the first time and add the abbreviation in parentheses.
- ✔️ National Business Emergency Operations Center (NBEOC)
The active voice helps the reader identify the subject of the sentence. When in doubt, cut directly to the verb and give the reader clear directions.
- ✔️ Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
Refer to the user as “you” whenever possible.
- ✔️ If your symptoms are mild or you don’t have a fever, you may not realize you are infectious.
Use sentence case in headlines. Don’t capitalize nouns unless they’re proper nouns.
- ✔️ How to protect yourself
Keep content specific, informative, clear and concise. Use short sentences and contractions.
- ✔️ Don’t trust anyone who tells you they can get you money now.
Link text should be understandable independent of the text surrounding it. Don’t spell out URLs, and avoid ambiguous link text like click here, here, or learn more whenever possible.
- ✔️ Talk with the people who need to be included in your plan, and discuss what to do if a COVID-19 outbreak occurs in your community.