Acronyms and abbreviations

Acronyms

An acronym is a set of initials, pronounced as a word.

For example:

• UCAS  
• EUCLID
• CAHSS

Spell out acronyms

Acronyms can be useful when referring to the same phrase multiple times. However, unexplained acronyms can be confusing for users who are not familiar with them.

Before you use an acronym for the first time on a web page, spell it out in full followed by the acronym in brackets. 

It can be helpful to spell out acronyms multiple times on a page. For example, on a long page, or when a page is broken up into accordions, users may go straight to a particular section and miss the initial explanation.

Well-known acronyms

In cases where an acronym is more well known than the full phrase and is commonly understood by your audience, you do not need to spell it out. For example, ‘NASA’ is more well known than ‘National Aeronautics and Space Administration’.

Punctuation and capitalisation

Do not put full stops or spaces between the letters of an acronym.

In most cases, write acronyms in all caps. There are exceptions to this, for example in the case of certain trademarks.

Degree awards

Degree awards, such as ‘BA (Hons)’, do not need to be spelled out in full.

For more guidance on degree awards, see the ‘University terminology’ section of the style guide.

University terminology

Do not rely on tags to explain an acronym

Some content management systems have an acronym tagging function where users can hover a cursor over an acronym to view its meaning.

Here is an example of a tagged acronym: BBC.

Do not rely on tags as the only method of explaining an acronym, as they cannot be accessed by:

• mobile and tablet users
• users navigating without a mouse
• most screen readers using default settings

Once an acronym has been spelled out in full the first time it is mentioned on the web page, tags can be used as an additional way to explain what an acronym means.

Acronym guidance applies to initialisms

An acronym is a set of initials that is pronounced as a word. An initialism is a set of initials that is pronounced as the individual letters.

The above guidance on acronyms applies equally to initialisms.

Abbreviations

An abbreviation is a shortened word or phrase. For example, writing ‘info’ instead of ‘information’.

Limit the use of abbreviations

Abbreviations are often harder to understand than words written out in full.

Only use abbreviations:

• when the abbreviation is better known than the fully spelled out version (for example, ‘photo’)
• when space is limited (for example, in a table)

How to abbreviate numbers, money and distances

Do not use eg, ie or etc

These abbreviations are not universally understood and there are other words you can use in their place. Here are some suggestions:

• Use ‘for example’ instead of ‘eg’.
• Use ‘that is’ or ‘in other words’ instead of ‘ie’.
• Use 'and so on’ instead of ‘etc’.

Professor, Dr and other titles

Do not abbreviate ‘Professor’ to ‘Prof’:

• Professor Devi Sridhar

Write titles without a full stop:

• Dr Lucy Smith
• Mrs Perez

Combining words with an apostrophe

You can combine two or more words into one, with an apostrophe replacing the missing letters. This is called a contraction.

To create a more informal tone, you can use contractions such as:

• We’re
• You’ll
• There’s

Do not contract phrases that include the word ‘not’, as this can affect clarity and user comprehension.