Abbreviations and Acronyms

An abbreviation is a shortened form of a word or phrase. It may consist of a group of letters, or words taken from the full version of the word or phrase.

Example: RRSP (Registered Retirement Savings Plan), FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

An acronym is an abbreviation formed from the initial letters of other words and pronounced as a word.

Example: LAN (Local Area Network), PRI (Personal Record Identifier)

Content Approver

Only use an abbreviation or acronym if they are widely known. When using technical terms or foreign language words, it is important to give readers the meaning

When using an abbreviation or acronym, always write it out in full followed by the abbreviation in brackets, or provide a description upon its first occurrence on each web page. For subsequent occurrences, only use the abbreviation as the case may be.

Tips:

Write abbreviations and acronyms in capitals (Caps);
Avoid over using them;
Avoid using "i.e." or "e.g."; replace with words such as, for example, in other words, etc.

Content Publisher

Add abbreviation tags to all abbreviations and acronyms; however, they should not be included in the title line. Note the client should be identifying the acronym the first time it is used, as is done in all documents.

First usage: Human Resources Services Branch (<abbr>HRSB</abbr>)
Secondary: Lorem ipsum <abbr>HRSB</abbr> lorem et al.