About the Style Guides
MDC uses a number of PDF style guides for the development of online content. These guides have been incorporated into this online style guide. However, the original guides provide a deeper look at some topics and should be consulted for questions that this online guide does not cover.
Details
MDC Editorial Style Guide
The MDC Editorial Style Guide is based on The Associated Press Stylebook, or AP style. Some place names, administrative titles, and usage issues encountered in MDC content aren’t addressed in AP style. MDC editors address these in the MDC Style Guide. The MDC Style Guide provides:
- Answers to common questions about style (word choice, abbreviations, capitalization, punctuation, etc.)
- MDC logo use and key messages
- Guidelines for Word and Excel documents so they’ll be universally accessible to post on mdc.mo.gov
MDC Writing for the Web Guidelines
MDC adheres to A Guide to Writing for the Web for online content. The guide provides suggestions on how to:
- Target content to meet user needs
- Structure scannable content
- Write content that is easy to read and understand
MDC Design Guide
MDC's previous site design was based on the design criteria in the MDC Design Guide. Information for the new site can now be found in the Design Guidelines sections of this online style guide.