The rule
Avoid ALL CAPS and long blocks of italics to maintain legibility.
Why it matters
All-caps text is significantly harder for everyone to read and may lead screen readers to spell out words letter-by-letter as acronyms. Italics are often difficult to scan and can appear blurry to users with low vision.
How to apply it
- Use sentence case for headings, links, and buttons.
- Limit the use of bold and italics to single words or very short phrases for emphasis.
- Ensure text is at least 1em in size and uses relative units so it can be enlarged by the user.
Example
Before and after
Avoid
"CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION."
Better
"Submit your application."
Tensions and exceptions
Brand standards may occasionally require specific capitalization for logos or certain stylistic elements. In these cases, use CSS for the visual transform so the underlying code remains accessible.