What's new - Updates
Updates to the service manual.
October 2021
| Section | Update |
|---|---|
| Design system |
Added a new start page pattern and guidance Changed case of the word "or" in the "none" option of the checkboxes component |
September 2021
| Section | Update |
|---|---|
| Across the service manual |
Added more links to our feedback survey – on the Qualtrics website |
| Content style guide |
Updates to the section on ethnicity, religion and nationality on the Inclusive language page New entries for "BAME", "Black or black", "BME", "ethnic minorities", "ethnicity", "race" and "White or white" in the A to Z of NHS health writing Added note about "Black or black" and "White or white" to the section on capitalisation on the Formatting and punctuation page New entry for "positive" in the A to Z of NHS health writing |
| Design system |
Added "none" option to the checkboxes component |
| Team page |
Updated the service manual team page |
August 2021
| Section | Update |
|---|---|
| Content style guide |
New entries on NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSEI) and NHSX in the A to Z of NHS health writing |
| Design system |
Added 2 more bullet points to the guidance on image captions in the image component |
| What's new |
Week 1: the latest from the NHS additional language support discovery – new set of week notes from the service manual team |
July 2021
| Section | Update |
|---|---|
| Across the service manual | |
| NHS service standard |
Added new paragraph on the page about the NHS service standard, under the heading "NHS services and the GOV.UK service standard" Added new section in point 5: Make sure everyone can use the service to explain what we mean by inclusion and accessibility. Also added a reference to the 2018 accessibility regulations. Clarified what we mean by "agile" in point 7. Use agile ways of working Clarified what we mean by "iteration" for live teams in point 8. Iterate and improve frequently Added information about privacy policies and data protection impact assessments (DPIAs) in point 9. Respect and protect users' confidentiality and privacy |
| Design system |
Brought all guidance on captions together in the images component Brought the images component example into line with the accessibility guidance on using alt-text for images in content |
June 2021
| Section | Update |
|---|---|
| Accessibility guidance |
Updated guidance on length of alt-text in section on using alternative text for images in content Moved guidance on image captions from the accessibility guidance to the images component |
| Content style guide |
New section: Make content about skin symptoms more inclusive New entries in the A to Z of NHS health writing for: black skin, brown skin, redness, skin colour changes, white skin Some guidance on writing about skin colour in the section on Ethnicity, religion and nationality on the Inclusive language page Updated entries in the A to Z of NHS health writing on immunisation, jab, vaccine, and vaccination New entries in the A to Z for GP online services and ID |
| Design system |
Brought all guidance on captions together in the images component Brought images component example into line with the accessiblity guidance on using alt-text for images in content Added real error message example to date input component |
May 2021
| Section | Update |
|---|---|
| Accessibility guidance |
Updated section on making video and other multimedia content accessible |
April 2021
| Section | Update |
|---|---|
| Service manual |
Added content in the design system, content style guide, accessibility guidance and service standard to encourage people to contribute and improve the service manual |
| Content style guide |
Added a new entry for GP system supplier names and patient-facing services to the A to Z of NHS health writing Linked from our content style guide entry for coronavirus (COVID-19) to the new coronavirus (COVID-19) A to Z on GOV.UK |
March 2021
| Section | Update |
|---|---|
| Accessibility guidance |
Updated guidance on accessibility statements within the product and delivery page |
| Design system |
Removed the review date component and replaced it with the "Reassure users that a page is up to date" pattern |
| Team page |
Added a new "service manual team" page |
February 2021
| Section | Update |
|---|---|
| Content style guide |
Updated our guidance on PDFs and other non-HTML documents Added explanation and more examples to the section on hyphens and dashes Removed the readability tools page and explained that we do not recommend them on our health literacy page. Removed 2 broken links from health literacy page. Amended the site map page to bring it into line with the site map entry in the style guide |
| Design system |
Added page template guidance |
January 2021
| Section | Update |
|---|---|
| Content style guide |
Updated the guidance on dates Added more examples to the section on capitalisation Added a new entry for "site map" and updated the entry for the NHS App in the A to Z of NHS health writing Added more links between the A to Z of NHS health writing and the rest of the content style guide |
| Design system |
Added guidance for asking for whole numbers using the text input component Updated code examples with inputmode numeric for the ask users for their NHS number pattern and date inputcomponent Updated code example for the font weight normal override class |
December 2020
| Section | Update |
|---|---|
| Content style guide |
Added new and updated guidance on using bold, contractions in URLs and page titles, full stops and quotation marks to the page about formatting and punctuation Added new entries for GUM clinic and vial to the A to Z of NHS health writing Removed readability tool page with broken link to SMOG calculator while we consider it further |
| Design system |
Removed full stops from the card component and other cards in the service manual to align with the content style guide Updated typography bulleted lists and numbered lists examples Corrected date in images component |
October 2020
| Section | Update |
|---|---|
| Design system |
Added card component Added responsive table component Added tag component Added Update warning callout guidance with a section on making headings accessible |
September 2020
| Section | Update |
|---|---|
| Content style guide |
Added new entry for phone and phone numbers to A to Z of NHS health writing |
August 2020
| Section | Update |
|---|---|
| Accessibility | |
| Content style guide |
Added new entry for NHS Test and Trace to A to Z of NHS health writing |
| Design system |
Added prototype kit how to guides link to the prototyping page |
| Get in touch |
Added a new "Get in touch" page |
June 2020
| Section | Update |
|---|---|
| Design system |
Updated guidance and added more examples for the error message component |
May 2020
| Section | Update |
|---|---|
| Design system |
Added guidance for the main wrapper spacing modifier classes Updated the footer component guidance |
April 2020
| Section | Update |
|---|---|
| Community |
Updated the backlog of components and patterns |
| Design system |
March 2020
| Section | Update |
|---|---|
| Content style guide |
Added new entries for calories, Deaf people, hearing loss, death and trimesters to A to Z of NHS health writing Added a reference from disease to "condition" in the A to Z of NHS health writing Added a new section on calories to the Numbers, measurements, dates and time page Mentioned the social model of disability in the section on disabilities and conditions on the Inclusive language page Changed the memorable number example under telephone numbers in the A to Z of NHS writing and explained that we use "call" or "phone" Removed "straight away" from our guidance on hyphens Standardised links in the A to Z of NHS health writing Added new entry for coronavirus (COVID-19) to A to Z of NHS health writing |
| Design system |
Updated Patterns index page with new wording after testing |
| Service manual policies |
Updated cookie policy with information about other organisations' cookies Updated Your privacy page with information about other organisations' cookies and with a section on social media |
| What's new | We published a new video of our public show and tell on YouTube. |
February 2020
| Section | Update |
|---|---|
| Content style guide |
Added a new entry in the A to Z of NHS health writing for "GP" and an updated entry for doctor" Added an explanation about using months up to 2 years to the section on age in the Inclusive language page Added new guidance on telephone numbers to the A to Z of NHS health writing, based on GOV.UK guidance Improved the guidance on ordinal numbers on the Numbers, measurements, dates and time page Removed the reference to the Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors on the content style guide hub page and added contact details instead Updated guidance on sex and intersex on the Inclusive language page Clarified guidance on temperature on the A to Z of NHS health writing page and in the measurements section on the Numbers, measurements, dates and time page Updated presentation of examples on the Numbers, measurement, dates and time page Amended wording of links on design example boxes across the design system |
| Design system |
Added guidance and examples of an error summary and an error message working together |
January 2020
| Section | Update |
|---|---|
| Site wide | Moved service manual from "beta" to "live". Added main, side and in-page navigation and other design changes |
| Community | Added new page: Backlog of components and patterns |
| Content style guide |
Updated the Inclusive language page with revised guidance on "sex, gender and sexuality", "ethnicity, religion and nationality" and "age" Added new entries for "chronic", "acute", "renal" and "kidney" to the A to Z of NHS health writing Updated the A to Z of NHS health writing with entries for "pharmacy", "chemist" and "sex assigned or registered at birth" Made it easier for people to understand negative contractions. Added "can't or cannot" and "don't or do not" to the A to Z of NHS health writing Amended the guidance on using the number 1 on the Numbers, measurements, dates and time page Amended index page and side navigation of How to write good questions to improve search results |
| Cookies | Updated Cookies page to reflect current cookies practice and let people opt in |
| Design system |
Added a Hint text page to components after research showed users did not look for it in text input and other components Amended wording on Prototyping page and Production code page |
| Get in touch | Added "Need help?" and "Get in touch" to pages across the site |
| NHS service standard |
Amended NHS service standard page and About the NHS service standard page to make it clear that teams working to the GOV.UK service standard must meet all 14 points Updated section 17 of the service standard with more detail about interoperability standards |
| Terms and conditions | Updated Terms and conditions page to make it clear the service manual is covered by the Open Government Licence |
| What's new | Added What's new section with updates and blog pages |
| Your privacy | Amended Your privacy page to reflect service manual policy and practice |
December 2019
| Section | Update |
|---|---|
| Content style guide | Updated the Formatting and punctuation page with guidance on full sentence bullet lists |
| NHS service standard | Updated the NHS service standard to make it clearer how it supports the GOV.UK service standard |
| Search | Added search functionality to the service manual |
November 2019
| Section | Update |
|---|---|
| Content style guide |
New guidance on how to write good questions in forms Updated the A to Z of NHS health writing with a new entry on how to write the NHS number |
| Design system |
New pattern page: Ask users for their NHS number New style page: Focus state New component page: Summary list Improved Header component page with guidance on the new organisational header Improved guidance on Colour page with guidance on defining focus styles, and Typography page with updated guidance on using the Frutiger licence |