Section 11: Internet

Internet terminology and style is rapidly evolving and in many cases there is no accepted standard. For consistency, our authority for Internet terminology is the Canadian Oxford Dictionary.

11.1 Email and web addresses

The @ symbol makes email addresses clear in running text; they do not need a prefix or tag, nor do they need to be italicized.

For more information, please contact jdoe@uvic.ca.

For print items including memos, media releases and brochure copy, we recommend URLs in running text be as short as possible (omitting “http://” and “www” prefixes where possible). Print publications should italicize URLs that appear in running text to make them easily distinguishable as web addresses.

URLs that do not appear in running text—below logos, as standalone graphic elements, etc.—do not need to be italicized.

web.uvic.ca

In most digital contexts, and particularly on the web, best practice is to link text rather than URLs. Only very rarely should you include a full URL in web copy. 

“Visit UVic News” rather than “Visit uvic.ca/news”

11.2 Punctuation

Normal punctuation should be used after a URL.

Further information is available at uvic.ca.

Try to avoid breaking a line of text in the middle of a URL. If it is necessary to break a line of text in the middle of a URL, do so after a slash.

11.3 Spelling and capitalization

For spelling and capitalization of common internet-related words, please see Appendix B: Word List and the Canadian Oxford Dictionary.