Content

Use sentence-case capitalization for all UI text elements. This style is predominantly lowercase. Capitalize only the initial letter of the first word in the text and other words that require capitalization, such as proper nouns. For example, labels in a form would be written as “First name” and “Email address”.

The image below shows a page title, tabs, a module title, link text, button text, table headers, and table content all following the sentence case rule.

Sentence-style capitalization makes it easy for readers to distinguish between common nouns and proper nouns, and is generally considered the quickest form to read.

Carbon does not consider UI elements within a product to be proper nouns. Nor does Carbon support a concept of “important words” or “specialness”. Determining whether something is important or special is highly subjective and can result in inconsistencies across an organization.

Unless the name is a product or service name, or is trademarked, always use sentence-style capitalization.

In the following examples, the capitalization shows that Padlock, Visual Recognition, and IBM Cloud are either products or services.

Title (or headline) case capitalization is where the first letter of most words is capitalized, but not articles, conjunctions, or prepositions (except if any of these are the first or last word in the sentence or phrase).

Title case is difficult to implement consistently across an organization because:

Title case can also slow reading and comprehension down as it is more difficult for readers to distinguish between proper nouns and common nouns.

All caps (or uppercase) capitalization is where every letter is capitalized.

All caps capitalization has been shown to be slower to read (especially when text is more than a few words) as individual letter shapes are less distinguishable from each other—they are the same height and have no ascenders or descenders. This style also typically requires more space in the UI per letter than sentence case does.

In addition, it can be difficult for the reader to distinguish between proper nouns and common nouns. In the first example below, it’s easy to distinguish product names from features whereas it takes longer to make these distinctions when the text is in all caps.

Capital letters are reserved for the following:

If it’s not in the list above, it should not be capitalized.

Sometimes official company and product names use non-standard capitalization. If you refer to any of these, ensure you write them accurately. Here are some examples (all written correctly):

When writing about a UI element, use the same capitalization as used in the UI. For example, if an input field is labeled “Name” then you refer to this as the Name input field. Similarly, if a drop-down menu has the label “Country” next to it, then it is correct to refer to the Country drop-down menu. Where a product page is titled “My network”, you refer to this in writing as follows: “Enter your network information in the My network page”.

The names of people, places, and products are proper nouns and therefore all take initial capitals. Examples of proper nouns are:

There are many words that can act as either a common noun or a proper noun, depending on the context. So, you always need to think about how the word is being used. Here are some examples:

IBM product and service names

When referencing the name of any IBM product, use the official (full) name, not an abbreviation or just the product name initials, unless a shortened name has been specifically approved, as with IBM CICS.

Use all uppercase letters for well-recognized abbreviations. This applies to both initialisms, such as IBM, and to acronyms, such as GIF.

If there’s a chance that an abbreviation might not be known to the target audience, it’s good practice to spell it out in full the first time you use it. However, don’t spell out commonly known abbreviations, for example PDF, CEO, AM/PM.

Unless the word begins a sentence, phrase, or UI element name, don’t give it a capital letter.

Don’t give a word a capital letter to denote “specialness”. If you want to emphasize a particular word or phrase within a sentence, use italic or bold formatting (but not both).

Use the simplest term that is appropriate for your audience. For example, use large instead of voluminous, and use small instead of diminutive.

Be succinct, and keep sentences as short and simple as possible. Omit wordy or redundant phrases.

TIP: Create a terminology list of words for your product that includes preferred words and words not to use. This simple tool can help with consistency over time, especially if multiple are writing copy.

Respect the users’ time and make things quick and easy to read. Always trim back to as few words as possible, although don’t be terse.

Terms of politeness are superfluous, convey the wrong tone for technical material, and are not regarded the same way in all cultures. Use please in a UI only when the user is being inconvenienced.

Use simple verbs and tenses, and keep sentences concise, simple, friendly, and punchy. Focus on the user’s context and make content relevant. The more familiar you are with their context, the better you can communicate without using a lot of words.

If you need to use past or future tense, avoid verb tenses with the words have, has, had, been, should, would, and will.

To set the appropriate tone and conversation level, it helps to imagine the user engaging with the product as if in a conversation. The interplay between words, imagery, and interactions forms the conversation, a back-and-forth that takes place on the glass, between the user and the product.

The conversational level is determined by where the user is in the journey, and the task they are performing at that time. The most conversational content is usually found in the “discover, try, and buy” phases of the journey. Probably the least conversational content can be found in error messages where an economy of words is desirable.

Whatever the conversational level, the writing should always be simple, clear, and easy to understand. And keep the tone friendly, human, and inviting. Use everyday language, not jargon. And choose short words to make the reading faster, rather than long impressive-sounding words. Put the thesaurus away!

IBM Style offers more guidelines on conversational style.

While a more formal tone is often appropriate for technical and business writing, a more casual tone is becoming increasingly accepted (and expected) in UI and supporting materials.

Often overused, these terms can convey the wrong tone for technical material, and are not regarded the same way in all cultures. Use terms such as “please” and “thank you” carefully.

These terms are often misused. Remember, “can” implies ability, and “may” implies permission (and sometimes uncertainty).

These terms can also be confusing. Remember, when either “may” or “might” will work, generally go with “might” to avoid confusion with the multiple meanings of “may”.

It is critical that all words used in any capacity in product offerings be inclusive in its language.

The following terms represent guidance that content designers can use to improve the inclusiveness of our offerings:

Other considerations apply for inclusive writing, including to avoid gender bias. As an example, do not assume that the subject of a sentence is male if the context might refer to any gender. Thus, instead of using “man hours”, use “labor hours” or “person hours”.

Sometimes, you can rewrite a sentence to use the second person (“you”). For example, instead of writing “The user can now move his cursor in four directions”, write “You can now move your cursor in four directions”. It is also acceptable to use “they” to refer to a singular subject.

IBMers who are unsure about a particular word, can search the IBM Terminology database, and can also submit a term for review.

For more information about this important work, see the Inclusive IT Terminology site.

Use the second person (you, your) as often as possible.

You can use first person in headings or labels that are very specific to the user or customer data, for example “My account” or “My usage.” However, in explanatory text for the heading or label, switch to second person. For example, “Your usage is calculated from the first day of the month.”

Where appropriate, use first person (we, our) to refer to IBM. For example, in requests for personal information, such as name and email address, where the user will benefit from knowing why IBM is asking for this information. Example: “Why do we need your email address?”

Avoid third-person pronouns that are gender specific.

For more detailed guidance about pronouns, refer to the Pronouns topic in IBM Style.

The active voice is direct and emphasizes the subject of the sentence. The subject clearly “acts upon” the verb (hence, “active”). For example, “John ate the apple”. In situations where either voice will work, generally choose the active voice for more directness.

The passive voice, on the other hand, flips the construction so that the subject is secondary to the verb and object (hence, “passive”). Often, the subject is not even included in the sentence. For example, “The apple was eaten by John” or just “The apple was eaten”. Only sentences that contain direct objects can be constructed in the passive voice. Thus, “John ate” cannot be constructed passively.

The passive voice makes for a more natural tone in certain use cases. For example, if the true subject of the sentence is a system, and the human is secondary, passive voice can be acceptable.