Abbreviations, acronyms and contractions are shorter ways to write words. For accessibility reasons, you should be careful when and how much you use them. When writing for digital content, you should follow our guidance on tagging. An abbreviation is a shortened form of a word or phrase. A contraction is a word resulting from a word or phrase that has been shortened in the middle (I'm, can't). An initialism is pronounced as the individual letters (LGBTQIA+, IT) An acronym is a set of initials from other words but pronounced as a word (EUCLID, UCAS). Tagging For accessibility reasons, it's very important that you tag abbreviations where appropriate. Tagging is where an abbreviation, contraction or acronym used on the web is marked with special code so that users know what it means. The additional text contained in the tag is revealed when the user hovers over the tagged item with their cursor. This often shows what letters in an acronym stand for - but this is not always the case. Tagging - full details on the Website Support wiki [login needed] Abbreviations Avoid abbreviations where you can. If you do use one, format it without punctuation and make sure it's appropriately tagged. Punctuation As a general principle, abbreviations should not use punctuation, including full stops. Is an abbreviation appropriate? Abbreviations can be confusing. It's often better to write the word out in full. In particular, avoid abbreviations of terms that aren't standard British English, such as 'e.g.' or 'RSVP'. Acronyms Acronyms which you know your audience will recognise do not need to be written out in full, but they usually need to be tagged. Others should be written out the first time they are used (on every page), with the tagged acronym coming after in brackets. After this the tagged acronym can be used alone. Don’t put full stops between letters. Example Edinburgh University Students' Association (EUSA) Contractions A contraction results from letters being missed out (an abbreviation is a shortened version). Mr is a contraction of M-iste-r. Don’t use full stops in contractions or abbreviations. Example Mr rather than Mr. eg and ie rather than e.g. and i.e. Contracted words Some types of contracted words can cause issues with usability. Simple contractions may be fine. Example you’ll - for you will we’ll - for we will University abbreviations The A to Z shows what many common University abbreviations stand for. You can use the University of Edinburgh Acronyms and Abbreviations site (often referred to as the Edinburgh Acronym Buster) to look up acronyms to find out what they mean. University of Edinburgh Acronyms and Abbreviations site (log in required) A-D A level No hyphen, lower-case l. Hyphenate in adjectival sense: 'A-level results' BA Tag as Bachelor of Arts. BEng Tag as Bachelor of Engineering. billion Abbreviate to bn, not b, only if necessary. Tag as billion. BSc Tag as Bachelor of Science. chemical formulae Avoid where possible. Write ‘carbon dioxide’ instead of CO2. Where used, chemical formulae should be written in plain text - CO2 - and do not need to be tagged. If your web page contains reference to a number of chemical formulas and their use is unavoidable, consider creating a glossary of terms. Provide a link to this glossary on each relevant page. Covid-19 Do not tag. DClinPsychol Tag as Doctor of Clinical Psychology. degrees, degree classes No full stops. "MA (Hons)" Use colons to separate 2:1, 2:2 See individual entries for tagging guidance for specific degree abbreviations. Dr Do not tag. DSc Tag as Doctor of Science. E-L ECA Tag as Edinburgh College of Art. EdD Tag as Doctor of Education. eg Avoid. Use 'for example' instead. etc Avoid. State full list or use alternative phrases. If unavoidable, use ‘etcetera’. ‘Each month’ rather than ‘in January, February, etc’ ‘Ball games’ rather than ‘football etc’. EUSA The first time, write it in full as Edinburgh University Students' Association. After that, use the acronym EUSA and tag as Edinburgh University Students’ Association. ft Avoid. Tag as full time if unavoidable. GP Avoid. Use ‘doctor’ or similar instead. If it is unavoidable, tag as ‘General Practitioner’. HTML Do not tag unless the page’s purpose is to explain what HTML is. ie Avoid. Use ‘that is’ or other alternative. LLB, LLM Do not tag. M-N MA Tag as Master of Arts. MBA Tag as Master of Business Administration. MBChB Do not tag. MCS Tag as Master of Chinese Studies. MClinDent Tag as Master of Clinical Dentistry. metres Avoid abbreviating. Use 'm', tagged as ‘metres’ where unavoidable. million Abbreviate to mn, not m, only if necessary. Tag as million. MMus Tag as Master of Music. MPhil Tag as Master of Philosophy. Mr, Mrs, Ms Do not tag. MSc Tag as Master of Science. MSW Tag as Master of Social Work. MTeach Tag as Master of Teaching. MTh Tag as Master of Theology. NB Do not use. NHS Tag as National Health Service or leave untagged, depending on context. P-Z PGDE Tag as Professional Graduate Diploma in Education (not Postgraduate Diploma). PgDip Tag as Postgraduate Diploma. PhD Do not tag. postcodes Do not tag. Format with a contact box if using EdWeb. Professor Do not abbreviate to ‘Prof’ unless absolutely necessary. If the abbreviated form is used, tag as Professor. RSVP Do not use. Use ‘please respond/reply’ instead. SQA Tag as Scottish Qualifications Authority. UCAS Tag as University and Colleges Admissions Service. UK Tag as United Kingdom. USA Tag as United States of America. URL Avoid if possible, using ‘website address’ or similar instead. If used, do not tag unless the purpose of the copy is to explain Uniform Resource Locators. This article was published on 2024-09-17
