28/02/2023
We updated our guidance on climate change.
07/02/2023
We updated our guidance on adding sources to charts and adding sources to tables.
17/01/2023
We changed our default dictionary resource from the Oxford English dictionary to the Cambridge Dictionary on several pages, including What is Style.ONS?
15/11/2022
We updated our guidance on sex, gender and gender identity.
10/11/2022
We updated our guidance on using diagrams.
03/11/2022
We updated our article types and structure guidance to include information on Current and upcoming work articles, a new type of article.
26/09/2022
We updated our guidance on linking between content in coronavirus (COVID-19) releases.
17/08/2022
We updated our metadata guidance.
15/08/2022
We added guidance on how to cite a statistical bulletin or article and updated our bulletin and article templates to include this section.
26/07/2022
We updated our hyphens and dashes guidance.
22/07/2022
We updated our guidance on using diagrams.
18/07/2022
We updated our structure, removing the Writing for the web category and creating Understanding users and Accessibility. The posts that were previously in Writing for the web have now been moved to Understanding users.
We also updated our guidance on writing about coronavirus.
01/07/2022
We updated our hyperlinks guidance to include more detail on how to link to Welsh content and from Welsh content to English-only content.
29/06/2022
We updated our guidance about how we read online.
28/06/2022
We updated our hyperlinks guidance to include more detail and examples. We also updated our guidance on how to find out what your users’ needs are.
06/06/2022
We updated our content types and web accessibility guidance on tables.
31/05/2022
We added guidance on symbols and special characters.
27/05/2022
We added guidance on digital content articles as a content type.
16/05/2022
We updated guidance on digital content article pages.
We updated diagram guidance to include an example.
04/05/2022
We updated our guidance on structuring content.
08/04/2022
We updated our guidance on alt text.
1/04/2022
We added guidance on using superscript and subscript.
28/03/2022
We updated our guidance on editing and proofreading.
17/03/2022
We updated the ONS and GOV.UK release calendars page and the hyperlinks section of Web accessibility.
14/02/2022
We published a new Writing for your users section, which provides detail on how to identify who your users are and write content that meets their needs, including a template for writing user stories. We also updated our annotations and footnotes guidance.
11/02/2022
We updated our diagram guidance to include more detail on accessibility.
30/11/2021
We have updated our hyperlinks guidance. We have also published a new Content types on the ONS website page, which provides detailed information on the types of pages we use on the website and when and how to use them.
18/10/21
We have updated our guidance for writing for social media.
24/08/21
We have added guidance on using “which” or “what” in Words to watch.
13/08/21
We have published new guidance on formatting telephone numbers.
10/08/21
We published guidance for using interactive charts, maps, animations and dashboards.
03/08/21
We have updated our guidance on chart annotations and footnotes.
28/07/21
We have updated our guidance on dataset titles, summaries and best practice for formatting datasets.
14/07/21
We have updated our guidance on PDF titles and file names.
05/07/21
We have updated our guidance on data-only releases.
05/07/21
We have updated our guidance on writing about strengths and limitations.
22/06/21
We have updated our coronavirus section in Words to watch.
03/06/21
We have updated our guidance on referring to new variants of coronavirus.
28/05/21
We have updated our guidance specifically on how to refer to Coronavirus and COVID-19.
27/05/21
We have updated our guidance on writing about the coronavirus.
21/04/21
We have updated our guidance on writing numbers.
09/04/21
We have updated our guidance on how to write about long COVID.
22/03/2021
We have updated our guidance on using capital letters in headings, titles and subtitles.
15/03/2021
We have updated our guidance on how to write about vaccines and vaccinations.
16/12/2020
We updated our Linking between content page to ensure that all COVID-19 publications include links to our new Coronavirus latest insights tool on the ONS website.
We also updated the Authors and acknowledgements section of the article guidance to include more detailed information on why authors sections should be avoided where possible, but how to include them if necessary.
14/12/2020
We updated our accessibility guidance for datasets. We also published guidance on how to structure and format your datasets and write effective dataset titles, summaries and information notes.
23/11/2020
We updated our guidance on writing about the coronavirus to include some additional terms and phrases.
26/10/2020
We have updated our guidance on writing about race and ethnicity.
23/10/2020
We updated our accessibility guidance to include more detail.
12/10/2020
We updated our guidance on titles and metadata to include more detail.
22/09/2020
We have published the accessibility statement for Style.ONS
21/09/2020
We have updated our guidance on web accessibility.
26/08/2020
We have updated our guidance on diagrams.
25/08/2020
We added more detail to our guidance on date spans and financial, tax and academic years in our section on dates.
19/08/2020
We updated our guidance on accessibility, including how to ensure content is simple to use and understand for all users and what to include in alt text for charts and images.
31/07/20
We published new guidance on writing articles for the ONS website. This includes information on the different types of articles and how to structure them, as well as what to include and what to avoid to maximise user engagement.
01/07/20
Added some standard notice text for bulletins that are moving to data-only releases.
Also updated the statistical bulletin guidance to include a standard sentence in the Strengths and limitations section that links to our Uncertainty and how we measure it article. This article explains terms such as statistical significance and confidence intervals.
15/06/20
Added downloadable template to headline releases page
10/06/20
Removed PDF download because of low level of user engagement, high frequency of updates to house style and overhead of maintaining PDF. To obtain a copy of most recent version of PDF, contact content.design@ons.gov.uk
08/06/20
Added guidance on Headline releases, Data-only releases and supporting shorter releases to our statistical bulletin guidance.
26/05/20
We updated the dates of school closures in our coronavirus guidance and made the dates clearer for when travel abroad and within the UK was banned. We also made the dates clearer for the government guidance to “avoid” and subsequently close bars, restaurants and leisure centres.
01/05/20
We have now published more detailed coronavirus (COVID-19) guidance. This includes guidance on how to refer to the UK pandemic, structure your content, write effective titles and summaries, and highlight quality issues for users.
02/04/20
Following some feedback, we updated guidance on the terms “coronavirus” and “COVID-19” in Words to watch to make the distinction between the virus and the disease clearer.
20/03/20
We added guidance on the terms “coronavirus” and “COVID-19” in Words to watch.
20/12/19
We made several updates to our guidance on writing statistical bulletins.
19/12/19
We updated our guidance on National Statistics information.
05/12/19
We added further guidance to writing statistician’s comments.
02/12/19
We published new guidance on diagrams.
25/10/19
We published new guidance on writing statistical bulletins.
30/09/19
We added more detail to our guidance on financial quarters in our section on dates.
06/08/19
We added guidance to use the GOV.UK country register for the correct British English names for countries on our language and spelling page.
01/08/19
We updated our guidance on table titles and subtitles to make it more consistent with the way we write chart titles.
22/07/19
We added new guidance to Words to watch, explaining that we should use the word “Brexit”, not “EU exit”.
24/04/19
We added a new example to our guidance on apostrophes.
21/02/2019
We have updated our guidance on the use of “the” with the name of our organisation and made some changes on the use of contractions.
15/01/2019
We have updated the guidance on sources and made some changes on how we write chart titles.
20/11/2018
We have added additional guidance on using brackets.
24/10/2018
We have added guidance on writing sources for charts and images.
12/04/2018
We have added “lead” and “led” to the Words to watch section and added browser advice for the use of Hemingway Editor.
15/03/2018
We have provided an update on image sizes and new guidance on writing titles and metadata.
26/10/2017
We have introduced the Hemingway Editor tool, included “recession” in the Words to watch section, updated the guidance for describing a file download and clarified the use of quotation marks for longer passages of speech.
13/09/2017
We have provided further clarification on the writing of numbers and updated the PDF download.
24/07/2017
PDF download updated to incorporate all the recent changes.
21/07/2017
We have provided clarification on the use of “to” rather than a hyphen in number spans and added some guidance on number rounding.
21/06/2017
We have provided details of the other style guides and dictionary we refer to and provided some guidance on writing references.
12/05/2017
We have updated the guidance on using “ONS”, added a section about classifications and updated the PDF version.
08/05/2017
We have added more detailed guidance about writing your quality information in a statistical bulletin.
27/04/2017
We have made some updates to the UK, Great Britain and Ireland page, including providing a link to our list of countries and regions.
04/04/2017
We have provided a Word template for structuring a statistical bulletin.
30/03/2017
We have updated the guidance on writing numbers and financial years. The PDF download has also been updated.
07/02/2017
We have added more examples to the list of acronyms that don’t need spelling out.
19/12/2016
We have updated abbreviations to explain writing out again in full for each section. We have also added an exception to the compound modifier explanation in dashes and hyphens.
26/04/2016
We have updated the race and ethnicity definition.
10/11/2015
Following user testing and feedback we have re-named the “Data visualisation” category “Charts, tables and colours”. We have also rearranged the layout in this section to better meet user needs.
04/08/2015
PDF download updated to include new data visualisation guidance
23/06/2015
New guidance added
We are currently updating the PDF to include this new data visualisation section and it will be available soon.
25/03/2015
New guidance added