Grammar and formatting

No hyphen.

It's an acronym for Payroll and Pension Data Interface Standard. So not papdis or Papdis.

Sentence case – not Participation Agreement.

Avoid the passive voice – it's wordy, difficult to follow, and often alienates us from our reader.

You can easily move most instances into the active voice.

• Passive voice
  The account was closed
• Active voice
  We closed the account
  ‍
• Passive voice
  Your complaint will be escalated
• Active voice
  We'll escalate your complaint
  ‍
• Passive voice
  This form has been completed
• Active voice
  You've completed the form
  

A good rule of thumb to help you identify passive voice is to add the phrase "by monkeys" to the end of your clause ("Your account will be closed... by monkeys"). If it still makes sense, you're probably writing in the passive voice.

Find more details on the passive voice and how to spot and avoid it on the Smart names page.

Not pass word.

Generally, try to avoid ‘pension pot’. Instead refer to money held with Smart as ‘pension savings’. You can see how to use 'pension savings' in the entry below.

Smart Retire has  ‘pots’.  Someone who joins Smart Retire can split their pension savings between four pots, each designed to meet a different need in retirement. These are called the flexible income pot, later life pot, rainy day pot and inheritance pot.

To refer to money held with Smart. Not "pension funds". Always use "pension savings" in the first instance. You can refer to them as "your savings" from then on if appropriate.

Not telephone.

Not telephone number.

Always style with upper case P and S, including in the acronym (as above).

Not post code.

We want to make sure we're always being inclusive when talking to or about our users. This means using appropriate pronouns.

When talking to a user always use second-person pronouns. When talking about Smart always use first person pronouns. For example, "We'll send you an email".

When talking about a user, always use they/them pronouns unless you know their pronouns.

Never address anyone by or refer to anyone by she/he pronouns unless you definitely know which ones they use.

Use single quotes when paraphrasing something. Use double quotes in all other instances.

Where there is a sentence that ends with something in quote marks, the full stop should go "outside the quotation marks, like this". For US English, it's the other way round and the full stop should go "inside the quotation marks, like this."

A pot in Smart Retire where a user can set aside money for emergencies. Write in sentence case.

For example, "re-enter your password".

No hyphen.

SAVA is the name of Smart's virtual assistant.

SAVA uses she/her pronouns.

We always use upper case for her name as it is an acronym for Smart's Avatar Virtual Assistant.

Her name is pronounced the same as the word “saver”.

To refer to money held with Smart. Not "funds". Always use "pension savings" in the first instance. You can refer to them as "your savings" thereafter if appropriate.

Don't use them. Ever.

Use set up as a verb and setup as a noun. Don't use setup as an adjective.

Not log in.

Not log out.

Use sentence case unless it forms the name of a specific single employer trust. You can follow the first instance with the acronym in brackets – "Single employer trust (SET)" and use the acronym for further instances if you would like.

When talking about the company.

Two words.

Name of Smart Pension's master trust. Capitalise the M and the T.

Two words.

Call to action for the beginning of a process.

Capitalise.

Hyphenated.

You can capitalise the words "team", "practice" or "discipline" if it forms part of a name. For example, Team Awesome, the Design Practice, or the Marketing Team.

You shouldn't capitalise it if it doesn't form part of a name. For example:

• I'll hand the documents over to the other team
• Have you met our team of marketers?
• I see there's lots of good work going on in your practice.
• Will anyone from your discipline be joining?
• We're thinking of forming some sort of separate graphic design team.

We capitalise PEG names as though they are proper nouns. For example, the Savings and Administration PEG. Or the Retirement and Member Payments (RAMP) PEG.

We always say "The US". Not "USA", "America", "U.S." or any other variation.

Lower case "t" at the beginning, unless it is at the beginning of a sentence.

For any online content (on the platforms, in emails, on websites), avoid URLs – link with some descriptive anchor text (Read about the annual allowance on the Pension Wise website, not www.pensionwise.gov.uk). The exception to this is PDFs, where you need to write the URL out.

When you do need to write a URL out, always use www. at the beginning. Don't use title case in URLs (www.smartpension.co.uk, not www.SmartPension.co.uk), as this makes them harder to read.

‍Whenever we hyperlink text, there must be a description of what the link is or where it goes. The simplest way to do this is to describe the purpose of the link in the hyperlinked text or using the page title. We can also use icons (pdf icon describes the type of document), and alt text. 

For example, visit our support site to find out how to sign in on our How do I sign in article.

On the platform, we will use aria tags, due to space limitations.

‍‍This is an accessibility guideline, meeting Success Criterion 2.4.9 Link Purpose (Link Only), level AAA.

Unusual words and difficult words, including idioms and jargon, need to have definitions, so users know what they mean. An unusual word is one that’s not used in everyday conversation, 

The first time an unusual word or phrase is used we should write an inline definition.

If the word or phrase has multiple meanings in the same page, then we should write an inline definition each time there is a new meaning.

‍‍This is an accessibility guideline, meeting Success Criterion 3.1.3 Unusual Words, level AAA.

The former is a noun and the latter is an adverb. For example: Your up-to-date statement is kept up to date.

All one word, not 'user name'. Some usernames are email addresses, but not all.

For video-only content, like silent movies, silent demos and animations, there needs to be a text description that describes what’s happening on screen.

The aim is to create the same experience with your text as you get from the video.

This is an accessibility requirement, meeting Success Criterion 1.2.1 Audio-only and Video-only (Prerecorded), level A.

For videos that have dialogue, there needs to be accurate and complete captions. These can be always on (open captions) or hideable (closed captions).

Using YouTube’s automatic captions isn’t enough as the accuracy can’t be guaranteed.

This is an accessibility requirement, meeting Success Criterion 1.2.2 Captions (Prerecorded), level A.

If the video is a live webcast or broadcast, we can use real-time text translation in captions, such as on YouTube.

This is an accessibility requirement, meeting Success Criterion 1.2.4 Captions (Live), level AA.

Videos also need to have a specific audio track that includes audio descriptions. Users must be able to select whether to use this audio track or not. You can do this by having a separate video that includes only the audio description soundtrack.

Live videos do not need audio descriptions.

This is an accessibility requirement, meeting Success Criterion 1.2.5 Audio Description (Prerecorded), level AA.

‍

One word, no hyphen in the UK and Australia. Hyphenated (well-being) in the US and the rest of the world.

Sentence case, no hyphen, two separate words. For example, "we are selling white label partnerships".

Sentence case. Not a proper noun. No hyphen. For example, "check your wifi connection"

Not capitalised. For example, "If you make a will you can also make sure you don’t pay more Inheritance Tax than you need to".

Use "you can" instead of "you are able to"

Don't use abundance – use enough, plenty, a lot, or say how many.

Don't use accede to –use allow or agree to.

Don't use accelerate – use speed up.

Don't use accentuate – use stress.

Don't use accommodation – use where you live or home.

Don't use  accompanying – use with.

Don't use accomplish – use do or finish.

Don't use according to our records –use our records show.

Don't use accordingly –use in line with this or so.

Don't use acknowledge –use thank you for.

Don't use acquaint yourself with – use find out about or read.

Don't use acquiesce– use agree.

Don't use acquire – use buy or get.

Don't use additional –use extra or more.

Don't use adjacent – use next to.

Don't use adjustment – use change or alteration.

Don't use admissible use the term allowed or acceptable.

Don't use advantageous – use useful or helpful.

Don't use advise – use tell or say, unless you're giving advice (in which case, make sure it's compliant!)

Don't use affix – use add, write, fasten, stick on, fix to.

Don't use afford an opportunity –use let or allow.

Don't use afforded – use given.

Don't use aforementioned or aforesaid –use this or earlier in this document.

Don't use aggregate – use total.

Don't use aligned –use lined up or in line.

Don't use alleviate – use ease or reduce.

Don't use along the lines of –use like or as in.

Don't use ameliorate – use improve or help.

Don't use amendment – use change.

Don't use anticipate – use expect.

Don't use apparent – use clear, plain, obvious, seeming.

Don't use applicant (the) – use you.

Don't use application – write use.

Don't use appreciable  – use large or great.

Don't use apprise – use inform or tell.

Don't use appropriate– use proper, right, suitable.

Don't use appropriate to – use suitable for.

Don't use approximately – use about or roughly.

Don't use as a consequence of – use because.

Don't use as of the date of –use from.

Don't use as regards – use about or on the subject of.

Don't use ascertain – use find out.

Don't use assemble – use build, gather, put together.

Don't use assistance –use help.

Don't use at (your, our, its, their) discretion – use can or may.

Don't use at an early date – use soon, or say when.

Don't use at the moment – use now.

Don't use at the present – use now

Don't use attempt – use try.

Don't use attend –use come to, go to, be at.

Don't use attributable to – use due to, because of.

Don't use authorise – use allow or let.

Don't use authority – use right, power, may.

Don't use axiomatic – use obvious, or goes without saying.

Don't use belated – use late.

Don't use beneficial – use helpful or useful.

Don't use bestow –use give or award.