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Content & microcopy standard

Agents write most first-draft copy, so the tone and rules have to be encoded, not held in a content designer's head. Packaged into the design context pack and loaded into UI-producing agent sessions.

The rules

  • Tone of voice — clear, plain, human; defined with examples.
  • Plain-English insurance jargon — terms explained or avoided; no unglossed acronyms in user-facing copy.
  • Error-message patterns — say what happened, why, and what to do next; never blame the user; never expose internals.
  • Consistency — the same action is named the same way everywhere (ties to the domain glossary).

Why it's a standard, not a style note

At agent volume, inconsistent copy proliferates fast. Encoding the rules as examples the agent loads — good vs bad, per pattern — keeps voice consistent across everything without a human editing every string. Complements the accessibility standard (error identification, labels).

Standards referenced: GOV.UK content style (as reference).