Bold, italic and underlined text

Limit use of bold text

Use bold text sparingly to draw attention to key information. Overusing bold text can reduce its impact.

Do not use bold paragraph text for a heading. Always apply the correct heading level so that screen readers can recognise it as a heading.

Headings and page titles

Only use italics for academic referencing

Avoid italics as it can make text harder to read for people with visual impairments and dyslexia.

You can use italics when writing a bibliography that follows an established academic referencing format.

Do not underline text on a web page

Do not underline text on a web page. This makes the text look like a link and can be confusing for users.