Guide to Producing Content

Introduction

This website dedicated to Plymouth’s net zero mission is designed to act as one common point of reference for the city’s net zero aspiration and a common platform to galvanise action across the city.

The key objectives for the website are to:

  • Explain the overall game plan for the city to realise its net zero mission by 2030 and provide key information to illustrate the priorities, challenges and progress
  • Act as one common point of reference for Plymouth’s net zero mission
  • Engage all of the city’s stakeholders in this mission including residents, businesses and range of organisations
  • Build from the bottom-up the city’s climate emergency action plan, through the plans and pledges of organisations, businesses, groups and individuals
  • Showcase the wealth of activity going on from all stakeholders in the city to encourage and incite broader behavioural change

The website has been produced by Plymouth City Council acting as a custodian for the site with contributions from organisations and individuals across the city.

The role of the website

Plymouth Climate Website is there for all residents, businesses and organisations who live and work in Plymouth. It’s designed to be a place where everyone can share knowledge and contribute content about their efforts, learnings and achievements on their net zero journey.

Its purpose is to act as a community resource of shared endeavour.

What the website is not

  • A place for climate denial. Facts can be challenged but the science is accepted by the vast majority of the world
  • A place for political activism and campaigning. There are plenty of forums for this. This is designed to be a politically neutral space

Who is the target audience of this site?

While it is intended to be a website that appeals to everyone in the city. This is challenging. The aim is to make the content on this website accessible to the ordinary person on the street, from all walks of life, who may or may not think too much about climate change or be highly motivated about prioritising the need to take action.

We hope that this website will help Plymouth residents, businesses and organisations understand the need for a collective effort, what they can do to play their part in this mission and take active steps to do so, while sharing their journey in a public forum.

Write for the audience

When contributing content for the website, remember that anyone can view the content and we hope that we will have contributions from all sorts of people, businesses and community organisations across the city.

Some content pointers:

  • Think approachable, accessible, open language.
  • Use short words and sentences
  • Add bullets and subheads to make content scannable or scrollable for the easy browser
  • Avoid jargon and technical terms
  • Think about the order of your content – a sandwich works well. A headline and intro that grabs attention for the scanning reader (the bread). More depth about your chosen subject (your filling). Back to the bread, coming full circle back to where you started and what you’ve learned along the way

Formatting

For consistency, please follow these basic content rules:

  • Numbers from one to nine in letters
  • Numbers from 10 and above in figures
  • Dates as: 20 July 2022, not 20th July, 2022
  • Use double quotes rather than single quotes
  • Only use a single space after a full stop, NOT a double space

Imagery

To maintain a coherent look and increase accessibility, please ensure supplied images are:

  • Authentic, not stock photos
  • Published with appropriate permissions
  • Good resolution (minimum 72 dpi)
  • Optimised for file size (big files = high carbon)
  • Without text (this creates accessibility and rendering issues)
  • Published with ALT tags

Tone

Consider the following in terms of tone:

Open and honest but not preachy, patronising or lecturing

Nobody likes a lecture or being told what to do. The aim of the website is to inform people as openly and honestly as possible, helping them to draw their own conclusions, rather than telling them what they should and must do.

Positive and wider benefits

There are lots of wider benefits of living a low carbon lifestyle and making low carbon choices, whether that’s sharing and being part of a community, being healthier and more active, more connected and so on. Remember that people are motivated by lots of different things and framing content in a positive way is proven to be more engaging.

Avoid scaremongering

All the evidence tells us that scaring people just serves to push people away. Be transparent about the facts, but try not to scaremonger or make people feel guilty. Taking positive climate action is generally for the greater good – it’s something everyone can feel good about.

Clear and jargon free

Where there is lots of science, there is complicated terminology and jargon that’s not always easily understandable and can feel quite alienating. Avoid using jargon and use plain English language instead.

For example; instead of ‘Decarbonisation’ try ‘Moving away from fossil fuels’, instead of ‘Mitigation’ try ‘Reducing our carbon emissions’ or, instead of ‘Adaptation’ try ‘Preparing for a warmer world’

Initiating climate conversations

Talking about climate change can be difficult. Some people find this video quite helpful. In many cases it’s about listening and understanding other people’s points of view. Building trust is essential.

Accessibility

The website is being designed and built to the highest accessibility standards to ensure everyone can engage with the climate emergency through this website. Please help us to uphold these standards.

Further information

Code of Conduct Contact