How we create and manage content on our website

Peer reviewing helps make sure all of our content is fit for purpose. This is often called a second pair of eyes or '2i' review.

After you have drafted content, you must ask one of your peers to review before it can be published on the Buckinghamshire Council website. If your content is addressing a complex user need, you may need to do this several times. You might ask more than one person to peer review or involve several people in a group crit [link].

Peer reviewers often carry out the role of an editor. They will also check that the content meets user needs. Give your peer reviewer these questions:

1. Does this draft content meet the user needs defined in our user journeys?
2. If not, can you highlight where it doesn't?
3. Is this draft content written and presented according to our style guidelines [link] and the GDS design system?
4. If not, can you highlight where it isn't?
5. Have any exceptions been explained satisfactorily? For example, a PDF being used to meet legal obligations to publish certain information.

Ask your peer reviewer to make comments rather than change the content. This means you can discuss suggestions if you need to.

Peer reviewers carry out the role of an editor. This means they need to check that content meets our standards and guidelines in terms of:

• format
• style
• accessibility

When you ask someone to '2i' your content, ask them to check that the content:

• doesn’t already exist on buckinghamshire.gov.uk
• has a clear user need [link]
• is using the right content template [link]

Titles must be:

• clear and specific
• optimised for search
• under 65 characters
• unique within the site
• in sentence case
• written in plain English (no jargon)

Summaries should:

• expand on the title without repeating it
• explain the point of the page and make sense in search results
• be written in full sentences (with a verb and a full stop)
• be front-loaded with words users are likely to search for
• be written in plain English (no jargon)
• explain any acronyms in the title
• be fewer than 200 characters (including spaces)

Body text should:

• begin with what’s most important to users (not to us)
• be concise and easy to scan (with sub-headings every 3-5 paragraphs)
• be written in plain English (no jargon) and easy to understand
• use short sentences (around 25 words)
• define acronyms and abbreviations the first time they’re used
• explain any technical terms

Remember:

• always check our style guide [link]or the GOV.UK style guide
• bullet points have a lead in line and start with a lowercase letter
• numbers are written as numerals (including 1 to 9)
• don’t use full stops in abbreviations or acronyms
• describe the destination of any links (don’t use ‘click here’)
• use ‘and’ rather than an ‘&’, unless it's a department's logo image
• don’t use bold, italics, CAPS, semicolons, underlining or exclamation marks!!!
• check the formatting for headings, bullets and acronyms
• government organisations are singular (eg ‘Bucks is’, not ‘Bucks are’)
• use ‘to’ in date and time ranges, not hyphens or ‘/’
• write email addresses in full, in lowercase and as active links