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Text

The rules for using text are straightforward, with these exceptions.

All text must be placed inside a paragraph <p> block, unless:

  1. The text is inside a heading block <H1>, <H2>, <H3>
    More information on headings
  2. The text is inside a list item <li>.
    More information on lists
  3. The text is inside a link <a href="...">.
    More information on links
  4. The text is part of highlighted section <div class="highlightbox">.
    More information on highlights

All paragraphs must be explicitly opened (<p>) and closed (</p>). Paragraphs should never be nested.

Example: Paragraph text

Correct:

<p>Senior Palestinian officials have left Ramallah and are on their way to France to visit Yasser Arafat in hospital.</p>

<p>They had earlier considered canceling the trip amid a row with Mrs Arafat.</p>

<p>A top official has demanded an apology from Mrs Arafat over her claim the leaders were trying "to bury Arafat while he is still alive".</p>

Incorrect:

Senior Palestinian officials have left Ramallah and are on their way to France to visit Yasser Arafat in hospital.

<p>They had earlier considered canceling the trip amid a row with Mrs Arafat.

<p>A top official has demanded an apology from Mrs Arafat over her claim the leaders were trying "to bury Arafat while he is still alive".</p>

Text marked red was not enclosed in a paragraph

Text in bold shows a nested <p> tag

Using linebreaks: <br />

Line breaks have their place in the normal flow of text. However, they should never be used as a substitute for paragraphs. Never use multiple line breaks.

Example: Line breaks

Correct:

<p>I WANDER'D lonely as a cloud <br />
That floats on high o'er vales and hills, <br />
When all at once I saw a crowd, <br />
A host of golden daffodils, <br />
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,<br />
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. </p>

<p>Continuous as the stars that shine <br />
And twinkle on the Milky Way, <br />
They stretch'd in never-ending line <br />
Along the margin of a bay:<br />
Ten thousand saw I at a glance, <br />
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance<br />
</p>

Incorrect:

<p>I WANDER'D lonely as a cloud <br />
That floats on high o'er vales and hills, <br />
When all at once I saw a crowd, <br />
A host of golden daffodils, <br />
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,<br />
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. <br />
<br />
 Continuous as the stars that shine <br />
And twinkle on the Milky Way, <br />
They stretch'd in never-ending line <br />
Along the margin of a bay:<br />
Ten thousand saw I at a glance, <br />
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance<br />
</p>

Bold, Underline and Italic

Use of text modifiers such as bold and italics is acceptable, if used sparingly. The use of text underline is not permitted, to prevent confusion with links.

It is important to use the correct markup to achieve the bold and italic:

Please do not use <B> or <I> tags - these are deprecated in the XHTML specification in use.

Using acronyms

HSE uses many acronyms and abbreviations in normal conversation and in its publications, for example the MAC Tool - new staff and our external customers may not always know what these are.

So as not to interrupt the flow we still can use the acronym or abbreviation in the text but apply the <acronym> tag to overlay the full meaning if it's required. Acronyms are rendered as a broken underlining on the web page - hover over the word to view the meaning.

Try not to use the acronym tag in links or titles as these will affect the normal formatting of these styles.

<acronym title="Manual handling Assessment Chart">MAC</acronym>


Next: Using lists