Bold and 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.

Don’t use bold in these cases

• 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 regular bold text instead of a header, the screen reader will skip that section of the page.

Use bold text in these cases

These are some examples of when we use bold in VA style:

• The explicit set-up line for a bulleted list (like “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 certain bulleted lists.
• The first part of a sentence, when there’s a need to set it apart to make the content easier to scan. For example, when the first parts of several sentences describe Veterans who fall into different eligibility categories. Review examples on the Eligibility for VA health care page
• Numerals that we know the Veteran is on the page to find—like a specific dollar amount. Review examples on the Disability housing grants for Veterans page
• The different types of sign-in accounts we accept or previously accepted on VA.gov: ID.me, Login.gov, My HealtheVet, and DS Logon. Review examples on the Review medical records online page
• Health care portal options, when we need to reference both My HealtheVet on VA.gov and My VA Health in the same context. Review examples on the My HealtheVet on VA.gov: What to know page
• When there’s a “Note:” or “Example:” Review examples on the VA pension rates for Veterans page
• The design element, button, screen, and page or section title we want the Veteran to select or go to when we’re giving directions. For example, “In the File menu, select Save.” Review another example on the Verifying your identity page
• The error messages that appear when a person doesn’t complete a required form field correctly.

Label and value pairs

• For label and value pairs where we’re asking the person to review and verify information, such as in a Card component, we usually bold the text that’s most important. For example, if we’re asking the person to review their contact information (like email address or phone number), bold the information they need to review instead of the label.
  Example: Phone number: 555-555-5555
• For label and value pairs where we’re only presenting information, such as the address or hours of operation for a location, we usually bold the label instead of the value. The label and value can either be separated by a line break or a colon, depending on the content. Review examples on the H. John Heinz III Department of VA Medical Center page

Note: Designers can use their discretion with which text to bold in label and value pairs. If you have questions about what text to bold, contact the Design System team or the centralized content and information architecture (IA) team.

Punctuation with bold text

For punctuation following bold text:

• If the bold text is an introduction, the colon or period following it should also be bold (like the colon after “Note:” or the period after a list item introduction, “Be concise. Use as few words as possible…”).
• If the bold text is a full sentence, bold any punctuation within or at the end of the sentence.
• If the bold text is only part of a sentence, don’t bold punctuation that isn’t part of the bolded phrase (like “Select Continue, then answer the remaining questions).

Italic text

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