Hyphens and dashes

Only use a hyphen if the word is confusing without it

Hyphens slow online comprehension as words with hyphens take longer to scan. They can make the reader need to stop to unpick meaning.

The argument for hyphens is that they avoid ambiguity. But with a little thinking, you can usually rewrite something clearly and simply without needing a hyphen.

Example:

✅ "The online version." – without hyphen

❌ "The on-line version" – with hyphen

Sometimes you do need a hyphen for clarity, where a word has a different meaning without the hyphen, co-op and coop.

Do not use hyphens for time and date ranges, instead use "to".

✅ Birth to 25

❌  Birth - 25

✅ 2 to 3 year olds

❌ 2 - 3 year olds

✅ Tuesday to Friday

❌ Tuesday - Friday

✅ A to Z

❌ A - Z

"To" is easier to scan on a page, and text to speech software will read it out as "to". Rather than reading out "en dash", "dash", "hyphen" (if you used a hyphen) or even "minus".

Make sure your hyphen usage is up to date

Hyphens often disappear if a compound word becomes widely used. Check what's most commonly used today.

Examples:

Inter-networking became inter-net became internet

Hyphen use in prefixes can also decline

Examples:

De-regulate became deregulate

Be consistent with your hyphen choices

Do not alternate using and not using a hyphen for a particular word.

Follow the same rules about hyphens across your online channels and offline content. Consistency in a document and organisation is more important than being 'correct' just in the bit you're editing.

Example:

If you choose to write "full-time" then use that throughout your content.

You may confuse your user if you then write "fulltime". Or they'll lose confidence in you because it looks like you cannot decide. If it's an application for something and they need to mention it, it could be a real problem. They may well want to use what you've used.

Avoid using dashes whenever possible

Replace dashes with commas if you can.
Commas are treated naturally by text to speech software by default. That is, they are not read out. Many screen reading applications will read out "en dash" for every "–". Yes, users can calibrate tools they use, but why should they and what if they do not know how to?

If you do use a dash, use an en-dash, not a hyphen or an em-dash

The en-dash is:

• –
• wider than a hyphen, narrower than an em-dash, same length as letter ‘n’
• sometimes used the way brackets or commas are
• used with a space before and after it

The em-dash is:

• —
• wider than the hyphen and en-dash, same length as letter ‘m’
• used in US English in place of en-dash, without spaces around it
• very unusual in UK English

📝 Probably the most often used hyphen or dash on your Local Offer is for times and dates. Take a look at how you are using them.