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A
Abbreviations and Acronyms: An abbreviation is a shortened form of a word that represents the whole: Dr., dept., Sgt. Those kinds of abbreviations always end with a period. An acronym is an abbreviation formed from the first letters of the words and pronounced as a new word: SWAT, POTUS, NASA. Initials are like acronyms except that the letters are pronounced separately: FBI, NPR. IRS. Don't include periods in initials or acronyms unless they're branded that way. Upon first reference, spell out the initial or acronym in full, and follow it with the abbreviated form in parentheses. However, if the abbreviated form isn't used again, don't use it at all.
Addresses: If the address is in the body of a page, write only the street address, don't write out the city, state or zip code. However, a contact page should include the full address. For mailing addresses, do not use ALL CAPS. Spell out "Street," "Avenue," "Court," "Drive," etc. The only exception is Boulevard, which is abbreviated: Blvd. Always use numerals for a street number. Always add ordinal indicators ("st," "nd," "rd") to the street number: 1st, 3rd. Spell out "North," "South," "Northwest," "Southeast," etc. if it's a non-specific address: West 49th Street. Abbreviate if it's a specific address: 1675 W. 49th Street. North, South, East, and West are abbreviated with periods. NW, NE, SW, SE are abbreviated without periods. Use periods in the abbreviation P.O. for P.O. Box numbers. Spell out "Floor," "Suite," etc. Always use numerals for floor, suite and apartment numbers, including one through nine. Do not spell out "Florida," use "FL."
111 NW 1st Street
25th Floor
Miami, FL 33128
Afterward: Not afterwards.
Alignment: All text in the content section of a page should be aligned left. Nothing should be center aligned or aligned right.
All Right: Not alright.
Alt Tags: Go to Web Accessibility.
Ampersand (&): It's fine for page titles, calls to action and accordions, but never use it in the body of content unless it's for something branded that way. The correct HTML character entity is &.
And/Or: Should be used very sparingly. Just about anything can be one or the other. Only use and/or if it truly applies (it probably doesn't).
Annual: If used as part of an event title, it should be capitalized: The 5th Annual MSABC Golf Tournament. Don't number an annual event until the third year. There is no "1st annual" or "2nd annual." When the event reaches its third year, calling it "3rd annual" is justified. The word "inaugural" may be used for a 1st annual event, though it isn't necessary. For more about annual events, go to Numbers.
Anti or Anti-: Always hyphenate, except for when using words commonly used without a hyphen: Antibiotic, antidote, antifreeze.
Apostrophes: Only use an apostrophe for a possessive noun (Hector's t-shirt) or for a contraction (isn't).
B
Boldface: Use sparingly. When writing your content, the only things that should be in bold are headers, subheaders and specific keywords. Bold text may also be used for important dates that require an action, such as a deadline, or the title of a disclaimer. Sentences and paragraphs should never be boldface.
Bullets: Bulleted items always begin with a capital letter. They do not end with periods, even if it's a complete sentence. The only time a bulleted item uses a period is if there is more than one sentence. In that scenario, all sentences end with a period, except for the last sentence. If the bulleted items follow a subheader, put the subheader in bold, and don't end it with any punctuation.
Rules at Zoo Miami
- Pets are not allowed
- No distribution of printed literature of any kind in or at the zoo
- Be kind to the animals
- Smoking is permitted in designated areas only
- Food and drinks cannot be brought into the zoo. However, you may buy food and drinks at the zoo
C
Cancel: Should be spelled cancel, canceled, canceling, cancellation.
Cashier's Check: Not cashiers check or cashiers' check.
Cellphone: Not cell phone.
Co or Co-: Don't use a hyphen: Coed, cooperate, coexist, copayment. Use a hyphen if used for occupation or status: Co-pilot, co-defendant, co-host. Also, use a hyphen if the lack of a hyphen could make it look like a completely different word: Co-op.
Commission: Capitalize when referring to the County Commission.
Commission Chamber: Not Commission chamber.
Contact: Use "call" or "email" instead of "contact" when possible.
Coronavirus/COVID-19: Lowercase for "coronavirus," all caps for "COVID-19." Keep in mind that the coronavirus refers to the virus itself; COVID-19 refers to the disease caused by the coronavirus. Coronavirus is actually a family of viruses, so always use the article "the" to imply specificity: Restaurant workers in Miami-Dade are doing their part to stop the spread of the coronavirus. You may omit "the" in headlines. Do not shorten to COVID, even in headlines, unless part of a quotation. Since both coronavirus and COVID-19 are widely known, you no longer need to follow "coronavirus" with "COVID-19" in parentheses upon first reference.
County: When referring specifically to Miami-Dade, "County" is always capitalized. Don't capitalize if it can be any county. Do not capitalize "countywide."
D
Dates: Capitalize days of the week, and do not abbreviate them unless they're in tabular format. Include the day of the week only if the event is happening this week. Don't add ordinal indicators ("st," "nd," "rd") to dates unless it's a commonly-used date or brand: July 4, 4th of July. Months are always capitalized. Abbreviate August through February when used with a specific date. Spell them out when using alone or with a year alone. Don't add the year to an event if it's this year. For date ranges and other number ranges, go to Numbers.
Department: Only capitalize the word Department if the official name of the department is mentioned (Water and Sewer Department, Miami-Dade Police Department, Animal Services Department). It should not be capitalized when used in isolation (i.e. The department issued a service update).
Downtown: Always capitalize Downtown when referring to Downtown Miami.
Drop-Off: Always hyphenate drop-off when used as a noun. Do not hyphenate when used as a verb: I will drop off the kids later.
E
Email: In lowercase with no hyphen. If linking to an email address, it should link from a spelled-out email address, not the name of a person, department or other entity.
Em Dash: Don't use an em dash (—) unless it's for something branded that way.
Exclamation Point: Don't ever use it unless it's something branded that way.
F
FAQ: Unless you're referring to more than one set of frequenly asked questions, it's "FAQ," not "FAQs."
Federal: Unless referring to the full name of a specific government body (Federal Communications Commission), federal should be lowercase.
File Names: Not "filenames." All file names should be lowercase, with no spaces and hyphenated so that words aren't crammed together as a single word. Write vote-by-mail.pdf, not VoteByMail.pdf.
First Come, First Served: Use hyphens if it's followed by "basis," so that it's either "first come, first served" or "first-come, first-served basis."
First Person: Use "our," "we" and "us" sparingly, and only to refer to the County or community as a whole. Second person, like "you" and "your," is fine.
Folio Number: Do not capitalize. It should be "folio number."
Forward: Not forwards.
G
Gray: When referring to color, it's gray, not grey. It may be one or the other if it's a proper noun, such as a person's name: Mr. Grey wore a gray suit. However, the dog is a greyhound.
H
Hangtag: Not hang tag or hang-tag.
Health Care: Not healthcare.
Homepage: Not home page.
I
Italics: Don't use italics except for titles of books, movies, plays, etc. Though it should be done sparingly, italics may also be used for foreign language mentions in an English sentence: The mayor enjoys a cafecito. Although those are the only instances in which italics may be used, this page is an exception in that italics are being used to cite examples.
J
K
King Tides: Always capitalize King Tides.
Knowledge Base: Not knowledge-base or knowledgebase.
L
Links: Use the actual name of the page or document to which you're linking: Learn more about numbers. Don't write "click here."
Login and Log In: Use "log in" if it's used in the verb form: Log in to your account. Use "login" if it's used in the noun form: Use your login to gain access.
Lowercase: Not lower case.
M
Maps: If linking to a map, unless it's a specific application, it should be a Google map. Be sure to shorten the URL.
Miami Dade College: Not Miami-Dade College.
miamidade.gov: Don't capitalize. The Miami-Dade web domain should be all lowercase: miamidade.gov. To avoid confusion, try not to begin a sentence with the domain, forcing the capitalization: Miamidade.gov. Also, don't include the "www." Typing "miamidade.gov" alone will take you directly to the Miami-Dade County homepage.
Midtown: Always capitalize Midtown when referring to Midtown Miami.
Multifamily: Not multi-family (unless used as a compound modifier: multi-family unit) or multi family.
Municipalities: Go to Miami-Dade County Municipalities for the correct spelling for all of the municipalities, the dates they became incorporated and links to their websites.
N
New Year's Day: Not New Years Day or New Years' Day.
Non: In most cases, don't add a hyphen after "non": Nonstop, nonessential clause, nonprofit. However, include a hyphen if "non" precedes a proper noun: Non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Numbers: This one is long enough to merit its own page, so check out Numbers.
O
Online: Not on line or on-line.
Opa-locka: Not Opa-Locka or Opalocka.
Oxford Comma: Also known as a serial comma, the Oxford comma is the optional comma before the word "or" or "and" at the end of a list. Miami-Dade does not use the Oxford comma. Please include name, address and date of birth is correct. Please include name, address, and date of birth is incorrect.
P
Passholder: Not pass holder.
PDFs: Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents should be converted to PDF before posting on the web. PDFs should always open in a new window. The PDF icon goes inside of a period or comma. When preparing a PDF, convert from the source document. Do not scan a printed document.
Percent (%): Spell out the word "percent," don't use the symbol.
Phone Numbers: Use hyphens, not parentheses: 305-555-1234. However, it's "311" and "911," not "3-1-1" and "9-1-1."
Photo Galleries: The County does not store photos. All photo galleries must be on Facebook or Flickr, and they can be linked from the County page.
Pickup: One word, unless it's being used as a verb: He will pick up the documents later.
Please: Don't use the word "please" unless you're asking for something.
Poll Worker: Not pollworker.
Pre-Qualified: Not prequalified or pre qualified.
Presidents Day: Not President's Day or Presidents' Day.
Q
Quotation Marks: Periods and commas always go inside the quotation mark. Question marks and exclamation points go inside the quotation mark only when it applies to the actual quote. Don't use quotation marks for titles of books, movies, etc. Use italics.
R
Résumé: To make it immediately clear to the reader that the reference is to the document and not the verb form of the word, the County is going against the AP Stylebook on this one. Use the accents.
Right-Of-Way: Not right of way. For the plural form, write "rights-of-way."
S
Seasons: Do not capitalize the seasons.
Single Family: Not single-family, unless used as a compound modifier: single-family home.
Spaces: Use only one space after a period when starting a new sentence.
T
Time: Don't capitalize a.m. or p.m., and always use periods. Never write ":00." For time ranges and other number ranges, go to Numbers.
Title Case: Capitalize all words except for articles (a, the, an), coordinating conjunctions (and, or, but), and prepositions with fewer than four letters (in, up, by, for). However, if the article is being used in a hyphenated compound modifier, the article should be capitalized: Adopt-A-Dog Month
Titles: Do not capitalize a person's title unless it's before his or her name: President Joe Biden; Joe Biden is the president.
Toward: Not towards.
Twitter: When first referencing Twitter/X, write "X, formerly known as Twitter." After that, write "the X platform" or "X." You can use the word "tweet" when referring to the noun or verb.
U
Underlines: Underlines shouldn't be used at all except for links.
Uppercase: Not upper case.
U.S.: Not US. Always include the periods, even in headlines: The U.S. women's basketball team will be competing in the 2024 Olympics.
Username: Not user name.
V
Videos: The County does not store videos. All videos must be on YouTube, and they can be linked from the County page or embedded into the County page.
W
Web: Website and webpage, not web site or web page.
Well-Being: Not wellbeing or well being.
X
X: See Twitter.
Y
Z
Communications and Customer Experience
Inson Kim
Stephen P. Clark Center
111 NW 1st Street,
Miami, FL 33128
305-375-5527
