Content Guidelines
We use alert banners to communicate system status, warnings, errors, and other important information. We use carousels to present a sequence of related content in a compact and scannable format.
Carousels help users discover information progressively without overwhelming the page or interrupting their primary task.
We follow these basic rules while writing content for a carousel:
Voice: Be insightful and clear; do not use heavy jargon.
Tone: Be helpful and informative; avoid promotional or exaggerated language.
Language: US English
Voice Structure: Active voice
Casing: Main/Page/Carousel title in Title Case, heading and description for each carousel in sentence case, and keep proper nouns as is; links in sentence case.
Punctuation: Use no period for short sentences or sentence fragments. Use full punctuation only when the message is a complete sentence. Do not use exclamation (!) and ellipsis (…).
Words and phrases to avoid: Please, successfully, oops, sorry, uh-oh, something went wrong, you shall, you can.
When writing for a carousel:
Be concise and contextual, allowing users to understand each item independently while maintaining continuity across slides.
Keep each slide focused on a single message.
Avoid dense paragraphs; use short sentences or brief phrases.
Ensure content remains readable at a glance.
Do not rely on previous or next slides to complete a sentence.
Sequence and step usage
Use the word “step” only when the user must perform actions in the exact order shown in the carousel.
If the actions must be completed sequentially, label them clearly as steps. Example: Step 1 of 5
If the user can follow the content in any order, do not imply a sequence. Example: 1 of 5 or 1/5
Using “step” when no strict order is required can mislead users and create confusion in how they decipher the content.
