Content style guide

Bold & italic text

Bold text

Use bolded text to call attention to words or phrases that will help the Veteran understand the content on the page.

The explicit set-up line that comes before bullet points that states something like this: “Both of these must be true.” Review examples on the Eligibility for Veterans Pension page
The “and” or “or” that comes at the end of each line in a bulleted list.
The first part of a sentence, for scanability, when there’s a need to clearly set apart, for instance Veterans who fall into different eligibility categories. Review examples on the Eligibility for VA health care page
Numerals, for scanability, that we know the Veteran is on the page to look for—like a dollar figure. Review examples on the Disability housing grants for Veterans page
The different types of accounts through which you can sign in to VA.gov: Login.gov, My HealtheVet, DS Logon, and ID.me. Review examples on the View your VA lab and test results online page
When there’s a “Note:” or “Example:” Review examples on the VA pension rates for Veterans page
The design element or text link we want the Veteran to select when we’re explaining how to do a task. For example, “In the File menu, select Save.” Review another example on the Verifying your identity page
If you’re presenting a series of label and value pairs, such as the contact information (address, phone number, etc.) for a location. The label is always bold, not the value, and the label and value are separated by a line break as opposed to a colon. Review examples on the H. John Heinz III Department of VA Medical Center page

In any part of a text link, since the blue and underlining sets apart that text enough.
For words used to emphasize a point being made in the text, like “only if.”
When the label is serving as a subhead. Use an H3 or an H4 instead. Screen readers navigate around the page by headings. If the subhead text is bold, the screen reader will skip that section of the page.

Don’t use italics. It doesn’t show up well on a screen, and sometimes it can be harder to read than normal text.