An evolving reference. New sections are being added through 2026.
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style guide Style guide

The single source of truth for the ELIXIR-UK voice. Authored once. Read by humans on this site; read by language models as raw markdown – the same content writes copy on our behalf.

Use this section to

Voice vs tone

Voice is who we are – it doesn’t change. Tone is how we show up in a specific moment – it shifts with context. Same voice in a grant proposal and a tweet; different tone in a community thread and a deadline reminder.

In this section

style guide
Voice

The three voice pillars that shape every piece of ELIXIR-UK writing – report don't announce, specific over warm, credit where credit is due.

style guide
Do & don't

Paired before-and-after examples of ELIXIR-UK writing – announcements, talking about ourselves, talking about services, asking for help.

style guide
Conventions

Terms we use, terms we don't, and the spelling, capitalisation, dates, numbers and punctuation choices so everyone writes them the same way.

style guide
Writing a webstory

How to structure a webstory and the artifacts that ship alongside it – title, excerpt, slug, social posts, banner image.

style guide
Writing for social

How to write for LinkedIn and Bluesky as ELIXIR-UK – the lax posture, what's worth posting, voice rules, image-and-link workflow.

style guide
Accessibility

What every contributor needs to do – in writing and in structure – to meet WCAG 2.2 AA and work for screen readers, keyboard navigation and assistive software.

style guide
LLM system prompt

Two ways to put this style guide in front of a language model – point it at the live repo, or paste the prompt – so drafts come back in ELIXIR-UK voice.