Bold, italics, and underlining are powerful tools for emphasising text, but they should be used sparingly and consistently to avoid overwhelming the reader or detracting from the clarity of the content.
Bold
- Use bold to emphasise key terms or concepts: Bold can highlight important terms, commands, or UI elements that need to stand out. For example, “Click Submit to finalize your order.”
- Use bold for UI elements: When referencing buttons, menu items, or other UI elements, bold them to make them easily identifiable. Example: “Select Settings from the drop-down menu.”
- Avoid excessive bolding: Overusing bold can reduce its impact and make the text difficult to read. Use it sparingly and only for crucial elements.
Italics
- Use italics for titles of documents or publications: Italics are appropriate for the names of documents, books, articles, or publications. Example: “Refer to the API Documentation for more details.”
- Use italics to emphasise uncommon terms or phrases: Italics can be used to emphasise a term or phrase that might be unfamiliar to the reader. Example: “The concept of latency is critical in network performance.”
- Avoid using italics for long passages: Italics can be hard to read over long text sections, so use them only for short phrases or individual words.
Underlining
- Do not underline text for emphasis: Underlining is reserved for hyperlinks. Using it for emphasis can confuse users, as they might assume the text is a clickable link.
- Avoid underlining altogether, except for links: Underlined text can clutter the document and reduce readability, so restrict its use to hyperlinks.
Dos:
- Use bold for UI elements and key actions. Example: “Click Save to apply your changes.”
- Use italics for document titles and terms. Example: “Refer to the User Manual for more information.”
- Reserve underlining for hyperlinks: Example: “Visit the WriteTech Hub website for updates.”
Don’ts:
- Avoid bolding large sections of text: This reduces readability and lessens the impact of the bolding.
- Don’t underline text for emphasis: It may confuse users into thinking it’s a hyperlink.