State Bar of Wisconsin
No More Devspeak

UX Writing / Content Standards

Overview

Forms and tables across the State Bar of Wisconsin's web presence were communicating errors in the language of developers. This project produced a standards document covering error messages, link text, button labels, and form instructions, written so that both content editors and developers could apply it without ambiguity.

Problem

"Error, empty input" appeared across multiple forms. "Submission completed" appeared after users pulled their hair out when accented characters weren't accepted.

Developer-written microcopy is common at organizations where content and engineering don't share a standard. The developer ships the form and the error message is whatever the placeholder content was. These micro-frictions and tonal standards are how users weigh opinions on the organization.

Scope

I audited form and table copy across the Bar's web properties, identified categories of failure, and produced a UX writing standards document. The document covered error messages, empty states, button labels, link text, and form field instructions—for both content editors and developers.

Goals

  1. Replace developer-language errors with messages that name the problem and suggest a fix

  2. Establish standards for link text, button copy, and form instructions

  3. Meet WCAG requirements for error identification and suggestions

  4. Test screen reader navigation for traps

Research

WCAG 2.1 success criteria 3.3.1 and 3.3.3 became the framework. If an error is detected and a correction can be suggested, it must be.

Nielsen Norman Group's research on form design shaped engineering standards: how to write labels so they don't disappear the moment a user starts typing, how to position error messages so they're tied to the correct field, and moments of ambiguous language that are perfect relationship-building opportunities. Meanwhile, links across the website provided little context where they'd lead, and buttons were entire sentences long.

Work

The audit produced a map of failure types rather than a list of individual problems. A standards document turned these individual fields into field types that made fixes permanent and transferable.

Error messages were the most common failure and got the most attention. Link text got its own section. "Click here" and "Learn more" appeared throughout, which failed screen reader users who navigate by link list and need each link to make sense out of context.

Button labels followed the same logic. Where "Submit" had been the default, the standard called for verb-plus-object construction—"Submit Application," "Save Changes," "Download Report." The specificity removes doubt at the moment a user is deciding whether to click.

Reflections

Accessible design is universal design. WCAG produced better UX, because a message that names a field and tells a user how to fix it is more useful for every user.

"Error, empty input" works as a placeholder, but it shipped, and it stayed. The standards document addressed that by existing at the point in the process where those decisions actually get made and did not require a conversation every time.

Other Projects