Content creation guidelines

We want to help all website visitors access the information and services they need from our City.

Overview

Our goal is to create clear, consistent and accessible content. The people who create content for the City website follow these guidelines:

  • Accessibility
  • Content best practices
  • Web style guide
  • Audience and brand voice guide

Accessibility

The City of Minneapolis wants everyone to be able to access our content. This includes people with disabilities and people who use assistive technology. 

Our job as content creators is to reduce user barriers by creating content that is:

  • Well structured
  • Easy to understand
  • Intuitive to navigate

We make this website accessible through better:

  • Organization
  • Design
  • Coding

About accessibility

Content best practices

Visitors to the City website want to find information fast. They tend to skim until they see what they’re looking for.

To help users complete their tasks with ease, we follow these best practices:

  • Build for accessibility and inclusion
  • Be consistent
  • Be concise, simple and clear
  • Communicate with empathy and purpose
  • Be human-centered and data-driven
  • Have one place for each piece of content

About content best practices

Web style guide

We write in a clear and concise way to create content that is

  • Web accessible
  • Easier for users of all abilities to read
  • Search engine optimized

We follow the Associated Press (AP) Stylebook and City of Minneapolis style guidelines.

About web style guide

Audience and brand voice guide

Our guide defines the audiences of the City's website. It also describes our brand voice, personality and attitude.

Our content is:

  • Simple, accessible, inclusive
  • Conversational
  • Service-driven
  • Informational
  • Written in plain language

About audience and brand voice guide