Be clear and concise

Try to remove any unnecessary words or phrase. Avoid computer speak and system generated errors, and aim copy at humans ensuring copy is meaningful and guides the user towards their next step.

Use the present tense

Write in present tense to make the copy simpler and more digestible. Avoid future tense.

Platform friendly

Use language that’s consistent with the user’s platform. Terms used when describing the interaction with a desktop app may not work on mobile platforms. Eg. for mobile device interactions:

Easily translatable

Use simple and direct language to make content easy to understand, and easy to translate. 4 things to consider when writing for localisation:

• Word length
• Word order
• Grammatical gender
• Cultural differences

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Colors

Brand

Greyscale

Sass variables

All colors are available as SASS variables adding the suffix -color.

.your-selector { color: $primary-color; }

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Typography

The font-family displayed depends on the user's operating system.

iOS, macOS	-apple-system
Windows	Inter
Android	Inter
Linux	Inter
Fallback fonts	Roboto, Ubuntu, "Helvetica Neue", Oxygen, Cantarell, sans-serif

Avoid widows and orphans

A widow is a short line or single word at the end of a paragraph. An orphan is a word or short line at the beginning or end of a column that is separated from the rest of the paragraph. Widows and Orphans create awkward rags, interrupt the reader’s eye and affect readability. They can be avoided by adjusting the type size, leading, measure, wordspacing, letterspacing or by entering manual line breaks.

Limit line length

Having the right amount of characters on each line is key to the readability of text. Limit line length on desktop to 65-75 characters.