T*Net and TEQSA website content creation
guidelines
Topics
Writing style
New content
Quality control
Information structure
Formatting
Attachments
Links
Images and other media
Resources
Writing style
Content writing standards
Why the standard is important
Apply a ‘reader-first’ approach to
What does the reader need to know?
al content.
Why is it important?
How wil this help the reader to do their job?
Information focuses on the reader, not the department
that owns the information.
Short sentences – ideal y 7 to 14
Readers often skip long sentences when reading.
words.
Sentences may need to be read aloud by screen
readers but long sentences can become confusing.
Use plain English.
Assume readers do not work in your area or discipline
and may not be familiar with jargon.
Use personal pronouns and active Use the personal pronoun 'you' instead of 'the staff
voice.
member' and active voice with verbs: 'Access
induction training' rather than 'the site includes
induction training'.
This makes information much easier to read and is
more personal.
Acronyms other than TEQSA.
Must spel and explain ful y for first use on each page
fol owed by the initials. Assume the reader is new to
the sector and has not read it before.
Dates
Dates must be written as day fol owed by month then
year: 16 February 2021. Refer to TEQSA Editorial
Style Guide for details.
Bul et lists can be constructed with Bul eted lists using sentence fragments must:
ful sentences or with sentence
always contain at least three points
fragments that fol ow an
introduction.
be paral el in construction – al present tense,
etc
begin each point with lower case letter, unless
proper noun
not use penultimate 'and'
only use ful stops for last point.
The TEQSA style guide has more information.
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New content
Content writing standards
Why the standard is important
Use the search bar to check that the
Duplicate content can confuse readers, especial y
information you are creating is not
if its contradictory or an old version. There should
duplicated elsewhere on site.
only be a single source of information on the site
at a time.
When building a page, the author has
Content on websites is organised using an
checked links and that connections to
information architecture that gives staff the
the master navigation search work
information they need to do their jobs more
correctly.
easily.
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Quality control
Content writing standards
Why the standard is important
Al web content is reviewed every 12
Al content is regularly reviewed to check for
months or less and is accurate and
broken links, to confirm accuracy and update
relevant and aligns with the TEQSA
structure or style.
Editorial Style Guide. Content review can
be set for a shorter time.
The content owner is named on the page
A content owner is responsible for ensuring
(on T*Net only).
information is accurate, complies with the
editorial style, is accessible and up to date. If
they move or leave, their content pages must
be reassigned.
Contact details and names embedded in a Contact details within pages al ow people to
page content are current and correct.
ask questions or get more information.
Incorrect details waste time and cause
frustration.
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Information structure
Content writing standards
Why the standard is important
Concise page headings, fewer than Short page headings al ow for easier discovery in
seven words.
search.
Headings must use sentence or title TEQSA editorial style specifies minimal capitalisation
case rather than al caps: 'Pay and only for first word in sentence and proper nouns.
benefits'.
Page headings should not be
To improve accessibility, headings should not contain
framed as questions nor contain
symbols such as slashes, ampersands (&) and other
symbols.
symbols as they don't translate wel for screen
readers for visual y impaired.
Key tasks and information are
Meaningful headings help people to quickly find and
grouped in short sections with
understand information on a web page. Headings
descriptive subheadings.
also help the page to appear in a site search.
Use formatted heading styles. More Correctly formatted heading styles contain metadata
information in Formatting section
that ensure screen readers work wel . Bold and
below.
italicised text are not picked up by screen readers
and create a poor accessibility experience.
Review need for the FAQ format.
Creating pages in FAQ format can hinder search
results and result in content duplication.
Wel designed and written pages should answer al
questions without needing FAQs.
Long pages – more than two
A TOC helps readers to see al topics on a page and
screen-lengths – should include
links give quick access to information. Short pages
table of contents (TOC) with links to don't need a TOC if most information is available at
major headings.
single glance.
Cal to action or next steps should
Any instruction should be highlighted on a page in
stand out clearly on page.
bold or coloured text or on a button.
Use accessible language in cal s to Accessibility guidelines discourage use of terms
action such as 'learn more' or 'find
related to ability such as 'watch', 'hear', 'see'.
out more'.
'Click here' is also discouraged as it is meaningless
'Click here' should never be used.
and repetitive for screen readers.
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Formatting
Content writing standards
Why the standard is important
Only use approved templates
Pre-set styles provide a consistent look and feel across
and their pre-set styles for T*Net T*Net.
pages.
Headings are used in order.
Skipping the heading order can confuse screen
They should not skip from
readers.
Heading 1 to Heading 4.
Complete al page property
Page properties ensure the page owner and keywords
information.
are searchable.
Maintain template styles.
Changes to font size, colour and style can detract from
the reading experience and make content less
accessible.
Tables have row and column
Column and row headers give context to data and are
headers. These should be
particularly important for screen readers, which read the
repeated regularly if tables are
headers aloud to help make sense of table contents.
long.
Use plain or normal text,
Bold and italic text is not distinguishable by screen
sometimes cal ed Roman text.
readers and does not comply with accessibility
standards.
Linked text
Hyperlinks should appear as descriptive text rather than
URLs i.e. 'Visit Learning and development'.
No need to underline linked text. Underlining is only used to denote linked text and is
automatical y applied. Content writers don't need to do
this.
Highlighting key information
To highlight key information:
order critical information from the top of the
page
use single quotation marks around the names of
publications (don't use italics) or direct quotes
use bul eted lists. See TEQSA Editorial Style
Guide for correct use
use subheadings
use cal to action buttons.
Capitalisation
Use minimal capitalisation style. See TEQSA Editorial
Style Guide. This means using caps for proper nouns
and beginning of sentences, not to convey emphasis.
Symbols
Do not space percentages, distance, money and time
symbols and abbreviations after the number.
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Attachments
Content writing standards
Why the standard is important
Write information directly onto a web Only link to documents such as Excel
page instead of adding attachments. spreadsheets when a specific format requirement
can't be added inside the structure of a web page.
Attachments raise the risk of readers not opening
the information and they are often not accessible to
screen readers. The information might also miss
searches.
PDFs are only used where the
Screen readers and search functions can't
document information must be highly effectively read PDFs. Where possible, critical
control ed.
information should be presented on a webpage.
Alt text needed for each attachment
must include al content. This wil be
read to people with visual disabilities.
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Links
Content writing standards
Why the standard is important
Text links accurately describe where a
Links can be read out of context and must make
selected link wil take the reader and
sense when read separately.
open on the expected page.
Links must also clearly state where the selected
Never use 'click here' as it is
link wil take the reader such as 'check your
meaningless for screen readers.
pay', 'access the induction process'.
Embed links in descriptive text.
Links should be embedded in text descriptions
rather than displaying a URL containing
symbols and slashes.
Links to external sites are set to open in Select the option to open linked pages in a new
a new tab.
tab as this helps readers to easily navigate back
to your information.
Add 'back to top' hyperlink on the bottom Navigate to specific sections via links
of each page.
embedded in the contents page and add 'back
to top' hyperlink on the bottom of each page.
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Images and other media
Content writing
Why the standard is important
standards
Alternative text is added to Comprehensive alternative text descriptions must be added to
al images including PDFs. al images – photos and graphics – to ensure they can be
read by screen readers.
Images are inoffensive and Copyright-free stock images are available via Pixabay.
copyright free.
Image files are al under
Images should also be saved as jpg or png.
250 KB.
Do not use images of text
Screen readers are unable to read images of text. Text
i.e. pictures of presentation images can also scale strangely on different devices, causing
slides or banners.
them to pixelate or distort.
Graphics have a detailed
Al diagrams need to be read aloud by screen readers for the
description explaining
visual y impaired. This is also helpful when viewing on a smal
purpose and essential
screen.
findings.
Images must optimise
Check that images do not appear cropped when viewed on
correctly.
screen or mobile devices. The most important part of the
image must always be visible on different devices.
Permissions
Other than for copyright-free stock images, al people in
pictures must sign a permission form al owing use of their
image by TEQSA. Their name must also appear in a caption
above, below or beside the image.
Al videos must be
Any video uploaded to the web must:
captioned.
show ful captions covering al spoken content
link to a transcript covering spoken content
have alternative text descriptions if there is no speech.
Resources
For more information about creating content, visit the TEQSA Editorial Style Guide to check
your grammar and spel ing, and the TEQSA Brand Identity Guidelines to understand the use
of logos, images and tone of voice.
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