From Wildcards to Inclusivity: How We Brought Microsoft Style to PerfectIt

By Chris Ryder

PerfectIt is an add-in for Microsoft Word (and now PowerPoint). If you didn’t know that by now, what have you been doing all this time? Given this, it would make sense that we collaborate with Microsoft to develop a PerfectIt style based on the Microsoft Writing Style Guide (MWSG). And guess what? We have!

Microsoft Style in PerfectIt is designed to aid in writing style and terminology for all Microsoft communication and for everyone who follows Microsoft Style. And we do mean everyone! While the MWSG sometimes differentiates advice between technical and non-technical audiences, we’ve favoured non-technical audiences to ensure that the guidance is as accessible as possible. Where necessary, we’ve included notes that the advice differs for technical audiences.

Everything from the MWSG that is possible to implement with PerfectIt has been included – which is a great deal, let me tell you! In fact, there are around 3,000 checks in the style, built from the A-Z word list, term collections, and many other areas covered in the MWSG. Here are just a few highlights that we think give this style the Microsoft edge. (See what I did there?)

From PC language…

Microsoft prides itself on its inclusivity, and one of the areas where we’ve been able to facilitate that principle is by incorporating MWSG guidelines on accessibility and bias-free communication into PerfectIt. When we write external-facing content, we can’t possibly know the background of everyone who is going to be reading it. Therefore, it’s essential to ensure that the language we use is accessible to all and free of any biases or inappropriate terms.

Many of these checks focus on avoiding language that defines people by a disability. We no longer talk about “the handicapped”, “the vision-impaired”, or “epileptics, and we certainly want to avoid phrases like "lame", "dumb", or "cripple", which have rightly become antiquated. Instead, MWSG and PerfectIt instruct you to use people-first language, such as "people with limited mobility", "person who is blind", or "person who is unable to speak".

We’ve also included a number of checks covering the section on militaristic terms that was added in April this year. In everyday speech, and especially in the workplace, we often use metaphoric language, without even realizing it. At some point or other, we’ve all used phrases like "going on the offensive”, "going nuclear", or "torpedoing a project". While they can be effective for getting a point across, are they really appropriate for external-facing communication? Probably not. PerfectIt will find phrases like this and advise you to avoid them.

… to PC language

News flash: Microsoft has something to do with technology. It wouldn’t be Microsoft Style if it didn’t include anything relating to computers and computing, so we’ve naturally included a number of features to that effect. There are sections with different rules governing the names of computers and other devices, terms in cloud computing, terms relating to bits and bytes, keyboard shortcuts, and the use of the mouse. It’s not surprising that it can sometimes be confusing!

Is it a mobile phone, a cell phone, a smartphone, or just … a phone? How exactly do you abbreviate “software as a service” again? And what’s the difference between KB and Kb? PerfectIt will check for all these sorts of terms and guide you in using the correct word, abbreviation, or phrasing for the context in which you’re writing.

The key word in all of these areas is consistency. There are so many alternatives that it can become very confusing for the reader if more than one term is used for the same concept, or if multiple concepts are referred to by the same term. This is especially important when it comes to the topic of security, where miscommunication or misinterpretation can put people at risk. PerfectIt will help ensure that you are using established terms that leave no room for ambiguity.

There’s more to editing than meets the AI

Some people love it. Some people fear it. But whichever way you slice it, there’s no doubt that the use of artificial intelligence is on the rise in almost every walk of life. Here at Intelligent Editing, it’s not something we’re afraid of! Editing is a human profession and always will be. But the potential AI has for making editors’ lives easier is very exciting indeed.

And it’s certainly not something that Microsoft is afraid of either! As recently as June this year, the MWSG was updated to consider some AI-related terms, such as “prompt” and “prompting”, and how to employ the terms “copilot” and “Microsoft Copilot”. Keep an eye on this space, as this emerging technology is going to start generating all sorts of new terminology, as well as new usages of existing terms, which we will all have to be aware of as writers in the field.

It’s quite exciting really — if you’re like me and get excited about that sort of thing. And if you’re still worried about a big AI takeover of humankind, I’m sure our new overlords would look more favourably on anyone who took care to use the right terminology!

Going wild (again)

Because I’m me, I couldn’t help putting a few wildcard checks into the style where they could be of use. As I mentioned before, wildcards are especially useful where there is a clear pattern in the way that words or phrases are used, so that you can look for everything that fits that pattern and edit them all in a uniform way.

There are quite a few checks in the style relating to dates and times. Actually, dates and times are the bane of the wildcard wrangler’s life, but that’s a story for another blog post. It doesn’t mean there’s nothing useful we can do. We’ve created some clever little checks that will change a date in a “day-ordinal-month-year” format (e.g., 31st July 2024) to the preferred “month-day,-year” format (e.g., July 31, 2024). There are also many potential ways to write a time, so some wildcard checks have been put together to ensure, for example, the correct use of AM and PM (capitalized, without spaces, without periods).

But there’s plenty more where that came from! Opportunities for wildcards are interspersed throughout the MWSG, waiting for me to pounce – and pounce I did, on the following guidelines (and more):

  • Referring to drives in the correct way, e.g., "drive C" rather than "C drive" or "C: drive" or "C:\ drive"

  • Avoiding creating new words beginning with "e-" (meaning "electronic")

  • Using "of" in phrases about device memory, such as "512 MB of RAM" (this one pleases me more than it should)

  • Presenting URLs correctly (e.g., omitting "https://" or similar)

  • Using plural words instead of the awkward "(s)" or "(es)" after a singular word

  • Always using a numeral with "percent", overriding the general rule of spelling the numbers one to nine in words

Remember: when checks like these find lots of hits, always be sure to check there are no mistakes before hitting that “Fix all” button. 

The style has also incorporated some recent guidelines in MWSG to bring it up to date with the Windows 11 operating system. Many of the checks include direct links to the guidance in the MWSG, so you can always go back to the source material if you’re ever unsure about a correction.

With all these features, Microsoft Style in PerfectIt is a powerful tool for anyone looking to ensure their documents adhere to Microsoft's writing standards. Whether you're a seasoned professional or new to the Microsoft Style, PerfectIt can help make your writing clearer, more consistent, and more inclusive.

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