Content style guide

Bulleted lists

Bulleted lists help make information more scannable and easier to understand. If a sentence contains more than 3 items or ideas, we recommend breaking them up into a bulleted list. These guidelines also apply to content for checkboxes and radio buttons in forms.

Considerations

Introduce the list. Introduce the list with a full sentence.
No single item lists. Don’t use an ordered or unordered (bulleted) list for only one item.
Item content must be succinct. Keep each item succinct for scannability (for example, 1 or 2 sentences each).
Connect items appropriately. When using “and” or “or” at the end of each bullet point, use a comma and bold the “and”/”or” at the end of each bullet point.
No more than 7 items without a break. If your list has more than 7 items, use subheads to break out the list into smaller bullet lists.
Use parallel construction within a list. Each list item should be consistent. For example, starting with a verb or noun phrase.

Punctuation

When the list is made up of fragments or single sentences, don’t use ending periods
If one or more bullets contains an additional sentence, use ending periods on all items in the bulleted list—including any fragments
Don’t use a period at the end of the last bullet in a series of fragments

Note: Punctuation of bullets is determined by list, not by page. It’s OK to have a list of bullets that are fragments (that don’t use periods) on the same page as a list of bullets with multiple full sentences (that use periods). Just use the correct house style of punctuation for each type of list.

Example of bulleted list with fragments

Use parallel construction and don’t use ending periods for fragments.

Like this

What documents and information do I need to apply?

Social Security number
Bank account direct deposit information
Education and military history
Basic information about the school

Not this

What documents and information do I need to apply?

Social Security number,
Bank account direct deposit information,
Education and military history,
And basic information about the school.

Example of bulleted list with conjunctions

When using “and” or “or” at the end of each bullet point, use a comma and bold the “and”/”or” at the end of each bullet point.

Like this

Both of these must be true:

You’re enrolled in VA health care, and
You’re registered as a patient in a VA health facility

And you must have one of these free accounts:

An Advanced or Premium My HealtheVet account, or
A Premium DS Logon account (used for eBenefits and milConnect), or
A verified ID.me account that you can create here on VA.gov

Not this

All of these must be true:

You’re enrolled in VA health care
You’re registered as a patient in a VA health facility
And you must have one of these free accounts: An Advanced or Premium My HealtheVet account, a Premium DS Logon account (used for eBenefits and milConnect), or a verified ID.me account that you can create here on VA.gov.

Example of bulleted list with more than one sentence

Use ending periods for each bulleted item in a list if any of the items contain a fragment and an additional sentence.

Like this

Here’s what you’ll need to apply:

Social Security number for you, your spouse, and your qualified dependents.
Your military discharge information. If you sign in to apply, we may be able to fill in this information for you. If you don’t sign in to apply, we’ll ask you to upload a copy of your DD214 or other separation documents.
Insurance cards for all health insurance companies that cover you. This includes any coverage that you get through a spouse or significant other. This also includes Medicare, private insurance, or insurance from your employer.

Not this

Here’s what you’ll need to apply:

Social Security number for you, your spouse, and your qualified dependents
Your military discharge information. If you sign in to apply, we may be able to fill in this information for you. If you don’t sign in to apply, we’ll ask you to upload a copy of your DD214 or other separation documents.
Insurance cards for all health insurance companies that cover you. This includes any coverage that you get through a spouse or significant other. This also includes Medicare, private insurance, or insurance from your employer.