The University of Southern Maine follows the Associated Press Stylebook (external site) for web writing, with the institutional exceptions outlined below. Our writing standards support accessibility best practices.

These standards apply to:

  • Website content (usm.maine.edu and its many subsites)
  • Recruitment and admissions materials
  • Marketing and advancement materials including print, emails and newsletters
  • Printed publications (brochures, postcards, viewbooks, flyers)
  • Digital publications (PDFs, one-pagers, reports for external audiences)
  • News and feature stories
  • Social media content
  • Event promotion materials including print, emails and newsletters

These standards do not apply to:

  • Academic catalogs
  • Course syllabi
  • Faculty scholarship or research publications
  • Accreditation or compliance documentation
  • Governance or policy materials
  • Grant proposals or technical reports

Departments may continue to follow discipline-specific or regulatory style requirements for academic and administrative documentation.

Where no discipline-specific style is required, AP Style with USM exceptions is recommended for clarity and consistency.

USM house-style exceptions to AP

We retain:

  • The use of the Oxford comma
  • Page titles use ‘title case’ for capitalization. For headers and call to action boxes (CTAs), we use ‘sentence case’.

Abbreviations, Acronyms, and Initialisms

While these shortened forms are common in internal communications, public-facing materials should spell out the full, formal names of departments, colleges, programs, and units whenever possible. Minimize their use for clarity and accessibility.

If a departmental abbreviation, acronym, or initialism must be used publicly, spell out the full name on first reference, followed by the shortened form in parentheses:

  • Correct: Office of Student Engagement & Belonging (SEAB)
    Subsequent references may use SEAB
  • See University Name Usage for guidance on the university’s name and related abbreviations, acronyms, and initialisms.

Avoid overusing acronyms or initialisms within a single paragraph, as screen readers may read them letter by letter, which can reduce comprehension.

 Alt text for images (for web and digital)

Alt text (alternative text) is a brief written description of an image that is not generally visible to users viewing the front end of a website or social media post. Many adaptive technologies use alt text to improve user experiences, such as screen readers using alt text to describe visual content to users who are blind or have low vision. Another example would be if someone experiences an image that will not load – alt text can help describe the image they are not able to see.

Alt text should be used for all meaningful images—including photos, charts, graphs, and infographics—that convey information about the image that is not otherwise available in the immediate page content.

  • Describe images, charts, and graphs succinctly and meaningfully.
  • Always use alt tags on every photo you upload. Write new text, avoiding repetition of text already present on the page.

Do not embed text over images that conveys essential information (for example an event time, date, etc). Screen readers cannot read text within images, and it may not display correctly on all devices.

  • If text must appear visually in an image (e.g., infographic headline), replicate it in the page content so all users can access the information, or in the alt tag if it is short enough to be added there.  
  • For decorative graphics or logos, text in the image is acceptable, but it should not carry essential content.

Ampersands

Do not use ampersands (&) in digital materials such as body text, titles, or headers. This supports accessibility and improves screen reader interpretation.

Bullets and lists

Bulleted lists support accessibility and allow readers to quickly move through information. Avoid long complex bullets and nested lists that mean an additional tear of content in bullets.

Complete sentences: end with a period:

  • Correct: Students complete internships with local businesses.
  • Correct: Faculty publish research in peer-reviewed journals.

Fragments / phrases: omit the period:

  • Correct: Undergraduate majors in biology
  • Correct: Internships with local businesses
  • Correct: Student clubs and organizations

If bullets complete a lead-in sentence, omit the period:

  • Correct: Students must submit:
    • a completed application
    • an official transcript
    • two letters of recommendation

Capitalization

Capitalize official names of departments, offices, and programs.

Lowercase informal or general references.

  • Correct: Department of History
  • Correct: the history department

Commas

We retain the USM house-style rule for use of the Oxford  (serial) comma. The comma should always be used before the conjunction in a list of three or more items—to prevent ambiguity and ensure clarity.

  • Example: Students study biology, chemistry, and physics.

Common words usage

Write for clarity. Use short paragraphs and active voice. Use the following wording:

  • website
  • webpage
  • email
  • internet
  • health care (noun)
  • healthcare (adjective)

Dates

Write out a date fully when ever used, including month, day, and year.

  • Correct: March 3, 2026
  • Always include the year for clarity
    • Exception: The date is evergreen, meaning the year is of no importance. Such as an application deadline that is on the same day each year
    • Correct: Deadline to apply is April 1
  • Include a comma between the day and year
  • Do NOT add extra letters such as “th” or “nd”
  • Abbreviations of the month are fine if needed for limited space reasons
    • Correct: Nov 6, 2026
    • Correct: Nov 6

Degree abbreviations

For degree abbreviations in web and print marketing content, use the form without periods (BA, BS, MS, MFA, MSEd, MPPM, PhD, PsyD).

Always use apostrophes when referring to individual degrees.

  • Correct: master’s
  • Correct: bachelor’s

If referring to a student’s year in their title, abbreviate as such:

  • Correct use for one degree:
    • Sam Jones, ’22 BS
    • Sam Jones, ’22
  • Correct use for two degrees: Sam Jones, ’22 BS, ’25 MS

Hyphens and dashes

Hyphen (-)

Use hyphens to connect words that function together as a single modifier.

Correct:

  • well-known author
  • 10-year-old student
  • decision-making process

Also use hyphens in spelled-out numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine.

Correct: sixty-five

Em dash (—)

Use em dashes sparingly to set off explanatory or parenthetical phrases.

Use a space before and after the dash for readability.

Correct: Students — from diverse backgrounds — complete internships.

Avoid multiple em dashes in the same sentence.

Legacy print materials may use Chicago-style em dashes (no spaces), but new materials should use spaced em dashes.

En dash (–)

Use en dashes to indicate ranges or relationships between separate elements.

Correct:

  • 2019–2024
  • pages 15–27
  • New York–London flight

In AP-style numeric ranges, use a hyphen instead of an en dash.

Correct: 9-11 a.m.

Job titles and abbreviations

Modifiers such as department remain lowercase when used with titles (e.g., department chair Lisa Patel). Certain titles are abbreviated and capitalized when placed before a name, including Dr., Gov., Lt., Rep., and Sen. All other formal titles should be written out in full.

Capitalize a formal title when it appears directly before a person’s name: Professor of Biology Michael Rivera. When the title follows the name, it should be lowercase: Michael Rivera, professor of biology. Titles used without a person’s name should also be lowercase and spelled out (for example: The president issued a statement. The chancellor responded.).

Links

Use descriptive link text:

Correct:

  • Learn more about the Chemistry program
  • View the 2026 Academic Calendar
  • Download the Financial Aid Application (PDF)

Incorrect:

  • Click here
  • Learn more
  • Read more

Numerals

Spell out numbers one through nine.

Use numerals for 10 and above.

Examples:

  •  three students
  • 12 credits

Exceptions:

  • Money: $5
  • Percentages: 5%
  • Ages and dimensions: 6-foot table
  • Spell out numbers at the beginning of a sentence. This supports accessibility and improves screen reader interpretation:
    • Example: Twenty years ago, the University expanded its programs.

Times

Use the following rules when referring to time:

  • Use numerals for times: 6 p.m., 9:30 a.m.
  • Use lowercase a.m. and p.m. with periods.
  • Do not include :00 for exact hours.
  • The period in a.m./p.m. doubles as the sentence period.
  • For ranges, use a hyphen with no spaces: 9-11 a.m.
  • “4 o’clock” is acceptable but 4 p.m. is preferred.
  • If stand alone, use noon and midnight instead of 12 p.m. / 12 a.m.

Titles and Page Headers

We retain USM house-style rules for use. 

Do not use ampersands (&) in page titles or headers. This supports accessibility and improves screen reader interpretation.

Page titles use ‘title case’.

  • Correct page title: Editorial Style for Web Content

 Headers (H2, H3, H4 on web) use ‘sentence case’. This is required for accessibility compliance.

  • Correct Header: Our approach

 Call to action buttons (CTAs) use ‘sentence case’.

  • Correct CTA: Apply now

Web addresses (URLs)

For web, use the following rules when referring to web URLs :

  • When including a text link (or hyperlink), for accessibility reasons, avoid using calls to action (CTAs) like “click here” or including the entire URL
  • Hide URLs behind descriptive text with action words (CTAs) that describe the link’s destination
  • Correct:
    • Visit the Photo Library
    • Learn more about the Photo Library
    • Schedule a campus visit to get a feel for our university.
  • If a URL must be noted, use without ‘https://’ at the start, and remove any ‘/’ at the end
    • Correct: usm.maine.edu/admissions

In print, use the following rules when referring to web URLs :

  • Do NOT use “https://” or “www.”
  • Remove any ‘/’ at the end
  • Use lowercase letters
  • If a URL falls at the end of a sentence, add a period at the end
  • Correct:
    • usm.maine.edu
    • usm.maine.edu/admissions
    • foundation.usm.maine.edu