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Rivet Design System
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  1. January 20, 2021

    Rivet featured on Accessible Code Libraries and Design Patterns list

    Rivet was highlighted alongside the U.S. government, GOV.UK, and Salesforce design systems.

  2. July 31, 2020

    Returning to development

    An update on plans for creating and releasing Rivet 2

  3. January 17, 2020

    Rivet 1.x.x End of Life Plan

    An overview of how we plan to retire Rivet 1

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Version 1.7.2
  • Microcopy
    • What is microcopy?
    • Address the user
    • Active voice
    • Plain language and structure
  • Style basics
    • Capitalization
    • Naming conventions
    • Numbers and dates
    • Punctuation
    • Technical terms and acronyms

Content guide

Learn how to write content that works for your users.

Our approach

Start with user needs

  • Write in a way that suits the situation. Ask yourself: Who is going to read this? What do they need to know? How might they be feeling?
  • Help people find the information they need quickly and easily. Guide them through the process.

Do the hard work to make it simple

  • Use plain language and simple sentences.
  • Choose clarity over cleverness.
  • Be concise.

Write for everyone

  • Respect the complexity of our users’ experiences.
  • Be willing to be surprised about who’s reading your work.

Build trust

  • Talk like a person.
  • Tell the truth.
  • Use positive language and concrete examples.

Start small and iterate

  • Make sure your content works for users. Don’t be afraid to scrap what’s there and start over.
  • Write a draft, test it out, gather feedback, and keep refining.

We drew heavily from 18F’s content guide to create this microcopy guide. Many thanks to 18F for keeping their work in the public domain!

Have a question about Rivet?

We're happy to help! If you've found a bug, typo, or have a request, the best way to get in touch is to create an issue on Github.

For all other questions please feel free to email us at rivet@iu.edu

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