Symbols

Use symbols instead of their spelled-out equivalents since symbols are easier to read, faster to understand, and they conserve valuable screen space:

INCORRECT: The decrease was fifteen percent, a savings of three dollars.

CORRECT: The decrease was 15%, a savings of US$3.

Slash Characters (or Virgules)

Use slashes judiciously, ensuring that you don't create a long word that will have trouble with linebreaking. Slash characters are not a point of linebreaking for popular Web browsers. To compensate, put 1 space character on either side of the slash character:

INCORRECT: Peptide and DNA Synthesis/Sequence Analysis & Consulting Service

CORRECT: Peptide and DNA Synthesis / Sequence Analysis & Consulting Service

Exception: If it's very short, the linebreaking issue is no reason for concern, and adding spaces creates more of a legibility problem:

INCORRECT: yes / no answer

CORRECT: yes/no answer

Go To: Usage Details or Content Style or Style Guide