DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION When it comes to diversity, equity, and inclusion, our goal is to ensure our writing is respectful and welcoming to all. For that reason, our language use will change as we learn. For now, here are some guidelines and suggestions: • Ask people which pronouns they prefer. If the person prefers they/them/ their, use their pronouns in a way that is easily understood by the reader. This may mean that you will use their name more frequently to help the reader. When it comes to subject-verb agreement, it is OK to treat they/ them/their as plural in this case because it will be less jarring to the reader. For example: Kas went to their primary care physician where Kas learned they had broken their arm. They were referred to a specialist. • When writing about disabilities, use person-first language. We do not say people “suffer” from a disability, and we do not not describe people as handicapped, mute or nonverbal. If how they communicate is relevant, we describe how the person communicates. For example, Ajani is deaf, and Margaret uses a wheelchair. Tiffany has autism and shares ideas by using a communications board on her iPad. • When writing about race, follow AP style. Capitalize “Black” in a racial, ethnic, or cultural sense, and capitalize “Indigenous” in reference to original inhabitants of a place. Of course, also capitalize other racial and ethnic identifiers such as “Latino,” “Asian American,” and “Native American.” Do not capitalize “white.” “People of color” is acceptable in broad references to multiple races, but be more specific whenever possible. • Because we want to treat people as equally as possible, use both patients’ and medical professionals’ last names on second reference. (First names are still acceptable for people younger than 18.) For example: Hector Whitetree was rushed to Unity Hospital and treated by Mecca Jones, MD. Whitetree’s family credits Dr. Jones’ quick action with saving his life.
WEB ELEMENTS The following information is necessary when adding content to the website to keep the same consistent look and feel throughout our web presence. Buttons Buttons should also follow the capitalization rules of the Power of Together campaign. Phone numbers For digital and online content only: Telephone and fax numbers use figures separated by a dash, with the area code in parentheses: (585) 123-4567 Text Links Links on the website need to be actionable tasks to the user. Links should never use the words “Click here” . Using these words can affect how users experience our website, and negatively impact the accessibility of our website. We want to describe what the user is clicking to , so that distinguishing between links is easier to understand actions: For example: Use: Sign Up for our Birthing Class DO NOT use: Sign Up Here! Use: You can download our accepted insurance plans Don’t use: Accepted insurance plans can be downloaded here. Use: View Example Bill from Rochester General Hospital DO NOT use: Click Here for an example of a bill from Rochester General Hospital View Example Bill (Click here) from Rochester General Hospital Use: Visit our sustainability website DO NOT use: You can see our sustainability site at https://sustainability.rochesterregional.org/ Web Address The Rochester Regional and St. Lawrence web address should always be written in lowercase without the “www”: Use: rochesterregional.org, rochesterregional.org/health DO NOT use: RochesterRegional.org or www.rochesterregional.org Use: stlawrencehealthsystem.org DO NOT use: StLawrenceHealthSystem.org or www.stLawrencehealthsystem.org
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BRAND EDITORIAL STYLE GUIDE | ROCHESTER REGIONAL HEALTH 21
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