Business Document Styles and

Standards Manual
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T a b l e o f c o n t e n t s
Table of contents
Section One Standards.......................................................................................................................... 5
How to Research a ocument.................................................................................................................. 5
Working with Stakeholders 5
Research Resources 5
Audience Analysis 5
esigning a ocument.............................................................................................................................. 5
Defining your audience 5
How Readers Read 5
e!e"oping a ocument............................................................................................................................ 5
sing Tem!lates and Styles 5
Writing Accessible "nglish 5
sing #ra!hics and $ther %llustrations 5
#$ Re!iew Process.................................................................................................................................. %
$&er&iew of 'rocess (
)Re&iew *ame+ (
Printing Paper ocuments........................................................................................................................ %
Section &wo In'house Sty"es.................................................................................................................. (
ocument )on!entions............................................................................................................................. (
*ording and +sage )on!entions............................................................................................................. (
Sty"es to $!oid.......................................................................................................................................... ,
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Section $ne , Standards
How to Research a Document
Worki ng wi th Stakehol ders
Research Resources
Audi ence Anal ysi s
Designing a Document
Defi ni ng your audi ence
How Readers Read
De&elo!ing a Document
Usi ng Templ ates and Styl es
Wri ti ng Accessi bl e Engl i sh
Usi ng raphi cs and !ther "l l ustrati ons
S t y " e s t o $! o i d
-A Re&iew 'rocess
!#er#i ew of $rocess
%Re#i ew &ame'
'rinting 'a!er Documents
Heading Descri!tion
./* Printing
)o"our Printing
+sing a Print House
Paper #ua"ity
.inding
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S t y " e s t o $! o i d
Section Two , %n.house Styles
Document /on&entions
Heading Descri!tion
0ersion of 1ng"ish [$ustra"ian2 +S2 +3]
4on'standard words and
in'house 5argon
[6ist a"" the in'house termino"ogy that is specific to your organisation]
7easurement [7etric2 Imperia"]
Heading page
con!entions2 inc"uding
copyright
[*hat goes into your headings and why. &hese standards shou"d be
ref"ected in your temp"ates.8
Header and 9ooter
con!entions
[*hat goes into your headers and footers and why. &hese standards
shou"d be ref"ected in your temp"ates.8
)hapter and section
numbering con!entions
[How are you numbering your chapters2 sections and the "i:e;]
[$s a genera" ru"e :eep numbering strict"y to a minimum2 particu"ar"y
if you are using 7icrosoft *ord. 1!en high"y s:i""ed users of the
product find themse"!es cha""enged by out"ine numbering.]
[In addition2 there is a genera" mo!e away from e<cessi!e numbering
of headings2 and if it is abso"ute"y necessary go up to two "e!e"s at
the most.]
&ab"e of )ontent sty"e [How do you want &ab"es of )ontent to "oo:; *hat is the ma<imum
number of "e!e"s to disp"ay;]
Inde<ing Sty"e and when
to use
[*hen wi"" you use inde<ing and e<act"y how;]
)apita"isation of headings [How wi"" you capita"ise headings2 tit"e case2 sentence case or "ower
case; 7a:e sure this is consistent with your temp"ates.]
Wording and sage /on&entions
Heading Descri!tion
+se of bo"d2 ita"ic and
under"ining for stress
[How wi"" you format stressed words2 and how much; $ genera" ru"e
for using high"ights is ="ess is more>. If you ha!e se!era" stressed
words on a page it is probab"y too much. If high"ights are o!erused2
they are ignored.]
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S t y " e s t o $! o i d
Punctuation con!entions
for bu""eted and numbered
"ists
[*hat co"ons2 commas2 and fu"" stops wi"" you use; *hat
capita"isation wi"" you use; *hen ma:ing this decision2 go with the
f"ow of the product you are using. If it your product consistent"y
automatica""y changes your sty"e2 then it wou"d be easier if you
changed it too.]
)ross references2
boo:mar:s2 hyper"in:s
[)ross references2 boo:mar:s and hyper"in:s wor: in different ways
for different purposes2 particu"ar"y where word processing documents
are to be con!erted for on'"ine. Specify e<act"y when and how to use
each]
$utomatic numbering [*hat automatic numbering functions are to be used under which
circumstances;]
References for
i""ustrations2 tab"es etc
[*hen do you "abe" i""ustrations and tab"es;]

Punctuation for numbers [How are you going to present numbers2 which ones do you write
and which ones do you use numera"s for; How wi"" you punctuate
"arge numbers;]
ate and &ime [How wi"" you show date and time;]
$bbre!iations [*hat abbre!iations wi"" you use and how; &he most common ones
to cause troub"e are =that is> ?i.e.2 or ie.2 or ie@2 and =for e<amp"e>.
Styles to A&oid
Heading Descri!tion
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