Formats and Conventions

Also see online Australia Post addressing conventions

Brief Australia Post brochure on addressing conventions

Tax invoice mandatory conventions

Formats are ways in which data and information can be presented - e.g. as tables, graphs, webpages, sounds, text.

Each format has its own conventions that specify the mandatory, preferred or optional ways the format is used.

Mandatory conventions are dictated by law or rule; you have no choice but to comply

• e.g. law states that a legal invoice must have the words "Tax Invoice" and the company's Australian Business Number - more details
• driving on the left hand side of the road in Australia
• passwords must be at least 6 characters and must contain at least one uppercase letter and one digit.

Preferred conventions are those that are not compulsory, but are strongly recommended

• e.g. the post office's preferred style for addressing envelopes
• beginning letters with "Dear".
• starting sentences with capital letters
• right-justified numbers in columns
• 2 decimal places for dollar currency

Optional conventions are those where people have freedom of choice about presentation

• e.g. where to put page numbers
• whether to use serif or sans serif fonts for headings and body text
• indicating the size of downloads on a web page
• providing thumbnailed versions of images
• using smilies in email/chat to indicate irony or joking

Publishing Conventions

(From the former Victorian Board of Studies)

General Conventions Checklist

Text
Numeric Information
Graphics and Colour

Presentation Formats and Conventions

Letters
Tables (Text and Numeric)
Financial Reports
Program Listing
Charts and Graphs
Reports
Report Formats and Conventions

Presentations
Flow Charts
Spreadsheets
Desktop Publishing

Suggested Web Formats and Conventions

Text
Sound
Still / Moving Images
Purpose
Colours
Web Pages

Victorian Board of Studies
Publishing Conventions

Text

· one space after a full stop
· one space after all punctuation
· consistency with capitalisation of headings and names
· consistency with margin widths, page numbering, column spacing, indention
· minimal use of font sizes
· Australia-Post preferred style for envelopes (no underscore, no punctuation in final line)
· consistency with dates, for example, 27 April 2001. Note: no punctuation; date/month/year in full
· use a serif font (has small strokes at the end of the character) for paragraph text
· use a sans-serif font for headings, tables and diagrams.

Numeric Information

· money values usually have two decimal places or none
· numbers are right-aligned in columns
· align decimal points (within a column and in totals)
· numbers that appear in text use a space or comma to separate number of 10,000
· numbers that appear in text and are less than 10 are written out in full
· when a number starts a sentence it is written out in full
· position labels next to single numbers, for example, $5
· position labels for of columns of numbers at the top of the column
· percentages in text are written out in full, for example, 25 per cent
· percentages in columns appear at the top of the columns, for example, %
· telephone area codes should be in brackets, with one space after the first four digits.

Graphics and Colour

· graphs and charts have titles
· x-axis and y-axis must be labelled
· use a key if more than one set of data is provided on the same graph or chart
· include author identification and/or source of data, date and a file name (if appropriate)
· include unit of measurement on relevant axis
· label each segment of a pie chart
· arrange segments (starting a 12 o'clock position) from largest to smallest
· include absolute figures as well as percentages
· choose colours that match the information being discussed.

Presentation Formats and Conventions

Letters

· minimise punctuation, for example, no commas at the end of each line in the inside address or salutation and complimentary close
· text is usually left aligned
· leave between 3-8 cm at the top of page (depends on length of letter)
· date written in full, for example 8 May 2000
· if more than one page, include page number on additional pages but not on the first page
· use Australia-Post preferred style for envelopes.

Tables (Text and Numeric)

· use a heading hierarchy
· position column headings appropriately, for example, use a left-aligned heading for text that is left-justified in the column
· if columns contain figures, then right-align headings and column information
· usually have equal spacing between columns
· subtotals have a single line above the total
· grand totals have a single line above and below the total, with the totals set in bold.

Financial Reports

· use a space or comma to separate numbers of 999
· use italics to indicate addition or subtraction
· subtotals have a single line above the totals
· grand totals have a single or double line below the totals
· grand totals are in bold
· include $ sign in column headings rather than next to each money value
· right-align dates to allow for double figures.

Program Listing

· highlight key words in bold
· use comments at the beginning of procedures or functions to briefly describe their purpose
· use comments at the beginning of program to identify the program, its purpose and any special conditions
· use meaningful names for all constants, variables, procedures and functions
· use named constants for any constant other than zero (0) or one (1)
· use indentation to emphasise the structure of program control statements, making sure that the level of indentation matches the level of the structure
· use blank lines to separate groups of statements.

Charts and Graphs

· use bar charts to show the differences between values or to show changes over a period of time
· use pie charts to compare parts of a whole or relationships between segments
· use graphs to show trends or relationships between values on each axis
· if more than one line is used in a line graph, vary the thickness or line type of each one
· limit the number of items represented in a chart to five or six.

Reports

Reports consists of:
· a title page (stating an appropriate title, the author, the name of the person commissioning the report, and the date)
· a contents page (indicates content segments and page numbers)
· an introduction (states the purpose of the report)
· the body of the report, which can contain text, tables, graphics
· conclusions
· a list of references or a bibliography.

Report Formats and Conventions Include:

· all pages of a report are numbered except the title page
· consistent application of a heading hierarchy
· single quotation marks when quoting work from another author
· quotations exceeding 50-60 words are indented and single spaced
· appropriate entries for books in a list of references (or bibliography) - name of author; first initial; date of publication; title of publication (in italics); publisher; place of publication
· appropriate entries for articles from newspapers, journals and magazines in a list of references (or bibliography), - name of author, first initial, date of publication, the title of the article (in quotation marks); title of publication (in italics), publisher; place of publication; date and page number, if appropriate
· if no author is identified begin with the title of the publication followed by the year.

Presentations

· use a dark-coloured background for slides
· use a light-coloured background for slides if printing as a handout
· use a light-coloured background if making overhead transparencies from the slides
· use sans-serif font for headings (48 point)
· use 32 point for text
· limit the number of points on a slide to five or six
· enhance slides with graphics.

Flow Charts

· use standard symbols
· show the version number, creation number and author
· show the direction of the program flow by using arrows
· minimise text within a symbol; write explanatory notes alongside the chart if necessary
· use only one page to represent the program
· show only one entry into and one exit from program control statements.

Spreadsheets

· treat a spreadsheet printout as a report, hence report conventions apply
· suitably centre a sheet on a page
· briefly explain the purpose of the spreadsheet and identify the author
· where cells require user input, clearly label what has to be entered (left side of cell)
· group input cells, frame them or use a suitable colour to distinguish them
· where cells display results, clearly indicate the cell (and the unit of measurement)
· group output cells, frame them or use a suitable colour (but different to input cells) to distinguish them
· group/frame cells that will be printed, with cells not for printout located outside
· list all equations in a separate document.

Desktop Publishing

· page layout should direct the reader from the top left corner down to the bottom right
· use a restricted number of typefaces
· use column widths of between 20 and 40 characters
· minimise the use of uppercase letters in headlines
· restrict the number of consecutive line endings with a hyphen
· avoid widows and orphans.

Suggested Web Formats and Conventions

The following list of formats and conventions are suggestions only. Electronic publishing is in its infancy, and as a consequence a set of mandatory formats and conventions has not been developed. Identify those that you feel are appropriate to a solution, and expect students to apply them consistently.

Text

· only centre short units of text (usually left justify)
· sans-serif font for main text to ensure readability
· consistent fonts, type sizes (usually 9-12 pt)
· no longer than 60-character line length (10-11 words)
· limit paragraph size (4-8 lines)
· use wide margins
· avoid using all capitals
· no underscore
· consistent headings
· use bold and italics sparingly.

Sound

· clarity of sound
· length - not too long
· indicate length of sound track, file type and size such as WAVE (type), 645K (size), 1 minute (length)
· for hearing-impaired people, also include a transcript of speeches, etc.

Still / Moving Images

· keep videos short/images small to reduce transfer time
· give a description of the video and file size and type, for example AVI (.avi), MPEG (.mpg; mpe), QUICKTIME (.qt; .mov)
· make images less than 480 pixels
· small coloured graphics can be used as organisation and navigation buttons.

Purpose

· personal
· commercial
· other (sharing information, entertaining readers, creating a fun club, sharing knowledge).

Colours

· avoid red text on blue background
· most text is in black
· most backgrounds are white or grey
· avoid red and green together (difficult to distinguish for colour-blind people)
· be colour consistent
· use negative space (white space)
· use links as the source of colour
· limit the number of colours used in text and figures to four.

Web Pages

· each page should contain a different concept or idea
· display the most important information first
· each segment should fill a single screen - if not enough text, combine with another
· if page is longer than five screens, break into smaller segments
· at the end of each page include name, email address, and date of last modification
· home page/core page should not take more than 15 seconds to load
· provide common element/theme/look such as logo
· 3 hops/clicks is maximum number to get to important information
· 4-5 hops should take users to 80 per cent of the documents they may want to view
· placement of navigation bar depends on length of page - at top usually, unless page warrants a couple of scrolls
· create one main frame.


Source: Extract from Resource material to assist in the implementation of VCE Information Technology May 2000
Available in PDF Format on the BOS Web Site