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Content principles

Our content principles help us understand and reinforce our personality, tone and voice. They also help us provide a consistent experience across all our products, services output and any other way we interact with people.

With everything we write, we aim to:

Empower our users to achieve their goals.
Guide them to make the most out of our products and services.
Educate them by giving them the exact information they need, plus opportunities to learn more.
Respect our users, their sensitivity, and time by showing integrity and not patronising them.

To achieve this, we follow these principles:

Keep it simple​

We write in English for a global audience, and want to make our content accessible to everyone.

  • Use short sentences and everyday words that our users understand and use.
  • Keep your words direct and to the point.
  • Avoid jargon and idioms that may be difficult to understand with no context.
  • Make instructions clear, actionable and concise.

Be relevant​

Communicate the correct details for a specific situation and no more. Get rid of complicated words and excess information. When we help users focus on the task at hand, they feel safe and empowered.

Be positive​

Tell people what they can or should do instead of what they can't or shouldn't do. If you see lots of 'can't' or 'don't', you may be using negative language.

Do

To complete this section, submit your final assignment.

Don't

You can't complete this section until you submit your final assignment.

Use active voice​

Active voice eliminates ambiguity.

Do

Teachers can set a deadline.

Don't

A deadline can be set by teachers.

Limit your exclamation points​

When everything is exciting, nothing is exciting. We save exclamation points for key moments in the user journey; for example when we welcome them on board one of our products for the first time.

Spell out acronyms the first time you use them​

Example: Branded Moodle App (BMA)

Use sentence case​

Use capital letters only at the beginning of sentences and for proper nouns. For headings, subheadings and calls to action, we use sentence case and not Title Case.

Do

Read the full article.

Don't

Read the Full Article.

Follow the rules of UK/Australian English​

Although we have global headquarters, we default to UK/Australian spelling. (Except for communications from Moodle US, which use American spelling to suit their market.)

Avoid regionally specific date formats​

Don't use 13/02/2022 or 02/13/2022. To avoid confusion, write the date as 13 February 2022.

Words and phrases to avoid​

We write with accessibility, inclusivity and diversity in mind. That's why we avoid:

  • Language that reinforces racial, ethnic or religious stereotypes, for example: Use allowlist and denylist instead of whitelist and blacklist.
  • Ableist language, for example: Say amazing, awesome, shocking or intense instead of insane or crazy. Say final check instead of sanity check.
  • Unnecessarily gendered words, for example: Say people or humanity instead of mankind. Say chairperson or chair instead of chairman.
  • Figures of speech that refer to war or violence, for example: Say try instead of take a shot. Say near miss instead of dodged bullet

Use diverse examples​

If you're inventing people or situations, choose different genders and ages. Don't stick to English names.

Ask for a quick review​

If English is not your first language and you feel unsure about the clarity of something you're writing, reach out to a native English speaking team member for support.