As part of the UL style guide, sentence case is the preferred way of writing, especially when it comes to headings.
But what is sentence case?
Sentence case is when sentences are written with only the first letter of the first word and any proper nouns like names and places are given capital letters.
Title Case Is When Every Word Is Given A Capital Letter. People Often Assume That When They’re Writing Headings, They Must Use Title Case.
But this simply isn’t true, and the title case can be problematic.
Why Title Case doesn’t work
Title Case Makes Sentences A Little Difficult To Read As It Makes The Reader Stop and Process Every Single Word Individually. It Also Gives Unnecessary Emphasis To Words.
(Does the voice in your head reading that sound a bit robotic, or is that just us?)
Even when used in headings, title case slows the reader down and adds a ‘mental load’. Basically, it makes it more difficult than it needs to be to obtain information, and who wants that?
It may be seconds of delay, but when it comes to user experience (UX), every nanosecond counts.
Sentence case is how most people, at least in Ireland and the UK, learn to read and write. The words flow into each other, and it’s easier to read.
When Was The Last Time You Sent An Email Or A Text That Was Written Like This?
Never. It’s just not how we speak to each other. Sentence case is more conversational, it replicates our day-to-day way of speaking.
If You Tried To Read A Book That Was Written Like This, You’d Probably Give Up After A Couple Of Pages.
So why use it on your website, or in your emails and documents?
What should get a capital letter then?
Great question. Our style guide details everything you should give a capital letter to.
Proper nouns are ‘proper’ for a reason, as they say, so give them the respect they deserve by giving them a capital letter in the sentence.
Examples
Use sentence case when writing headings and menu item titles.
Instead of a heading that says: What We Do
Try: What we do
Instead of a menu item that says: Contact Us
Try: Contact us
If you’re working on a news story, instead of the headline: Research Centre Celebrates New Award
Try: Research centre celebrates new award
ALL CAPITALS
Why are you shouting?
All capitals should be avoided at all costs.
To summarise, try to write in sentence case as often as you can. It’s what people expect, it poses no issues for your users and it saves you time as the writer by easing off on the caps lock.