Formatting

Formatting Text

• Spacing: Use only one space between sentences.
• Paragraph Breaks: When formatting text, remember that the user is reading on a mobile device. Paragraphs longer than 2–3 sentences can be challenging to read on a small screen. Even if the same text appears elsewhere as a single paragraph, consider breaking long blocks of text at a logical place for ease of reading. Use Internal Mode to preview default formatting. 
• Use only one line break between paragraphs; take care to check for and delete any extra breaks from copied and pasted text. 
• Formatting: Long stretches of italic text can be difficult to read. Set off long quotes with line breaks and/or quotation marks instead. 
• Use bold and underlined text sparingly; avoid all caps and "scare quotes." 

Names

• Use full artist / institution name in first mention in each text. This may feel redundant, but remember that all CMS items can be reused and reorganized: A collection item currently on view in a single-artist exhibition may later be used in a group show, in which the artist’s full name will be essential information.
• Subsequent mentions can refer to the artist or other individual by their last name (“Frida Kahlo” becomes “Kahlo”) and institutions by their short name (“The Studio Museum in Harlem” becomes “the Studio Museum”). 
• When referring to two individuals with the same last name, first names may be used instead for clarity within a given text. 
• Be careful not to shorten male names to the last name but women’s names to the first name; this is surprisingly common. Names should be treated equally regardless of gender. 
• In running text, please always refer to the app as “Bloomberg Connects” or “the Bloomberg Connects app”; avoid abbreviations or shortening to “Connects.”
• Defer to the artist or institution on any questions about styling names. Websites managed by artists or their representing gallery or official museum websites are good places to start.

Works of Art, Exhibitions, and Other Creative Works

Italicize titles of exhibitions and works of art in running text and captions. 

• Italics are not possible in Item titles, Exhibition titles, or section headings. In these cases, simply use the name of the exhibition – no need to add quotation marks. 
• For works that are studies, do not italicize the word “study,” only the title of the work for which the study was made or after which it was made: Study for Homage to the Square; Study after Homage to the Square.
• Separate the title and subtitle of an artwork with a colon: Composition: Horse and Figures.
• If the work has an alternate title, place it in parentheses after the main title: Violin and Mandolin (Musical Forms).
• Do not italicize or put quotation marks around titles of series: Weeping Woman series; Black paintings. An exception to this rule is when a series is published as a title, as in print portfolios. In this instance, use italics: Vollard Suite.
• Some works have no official or unofficial title. In those instances, the work is referred to as Untitled, in roman type; in running text, wording could be: in the untitled work by Miró; or, more formally, in Untitled, by Miró. However, if an untitled work has a subtitle, it should appear as follows: Untitled (Dots). If, however, an artist has “titled” a work Untitled, it should then appear in italics.

Names of books, newspapers, magazines, and films should also be set in italics. 

Titles of articles and poems are generally set in roman type and enclosed in quotation marks.

Names of design or historical objects should be in roman: Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s Seagram Building. Gardens or galleries with formal names may be capitalized according to institutional style.

Emojis

While emojis are popular in digital communications and do not officially violate WCAG recommendations, emojis do pose known accessibility issues.

Consider the following regarding emoji use in your guide:

• Screen readers announce the unicode string for each emoji, which is often literal and may not communicate colloquial or cultural meaning (e.g., “🎧 Explore the collection” is announced as “Headphone, explore the collection” and might not convey that the content includes audio).
• When multiple emojis appear one after another, appear in the middle of a sentence, or are used to replace text, it can be hard for screen reader users to understand and your meaning can be lost (e.g. “Cafe 🍽️ ☕ 🥪” is announced as “Cafe, fork and knife with plate, hot beverage, sandwich”).
• The technology behind emojis (and the corresponding screen reader announcements) can change at any time.
• Though emojis do respond to text scaling, low vision users might miss emojis or be unable to distinguish between them.
• Some emojis have culturally specific meanings that might not be understood (or might even be offensive) in other parts of the world.

Links

• Never paste a URL into a text. Use linked text instead, but avoid using “click here” or “link” to indicate a hyperlink. Whenever possible, integrate the link into the existing text, or utilize an organic action word or phrase: “Read more about Pablo Picasso.”
• Hyperlinks can be a useful tool for sharing content that might not be essential for fully understanding the guide, but that interested users might want to explore. However, too many links can take away from the app experience, so they should be used strategically. Links very early in the guide (in, say, a welcome message) may also limit time spent on the guide by distracting a user.
• Good uses of links include long videos (a full recording of an hourlong panel discussion, for example), partner or artist websites, and schedules for recurring events.
• We do not recommend linking to content that has a logical place in a Bloomberg Connects guide, such as collection item information, audio tour stops, exhibition texts, and short videos. 
• Check all links in Internal Mode before launch and when adding new content.

Consult your relationship manager about linking capabilities and strategies.