AH Technology style guide

A comprehensive writing style guide for Albert Heijn Technology that provides automated style checking using Vale.

What this project offers

This project provides a uniform writing style guide designed to create consistency across all AH Technology documentation and communications. The style guide includes:

• Automated style checking rules for headings, sentence structure, word choice, and formatting
• Vale configuration files for easy integration into your workflow
• Vocabulary management for technical terms and brand-specific language
• Clear guidelines for inclusive and accessible writing

Value of a writing style guide

Using a uniform writing style offers several key benefits, supported by extensive research in communication effectiveness and user experience:

• Enhances clarity and readability - A consistent style makes documents easier to understand and follow, reducing ambiguity and the chance of misinterpretation. Research from the Nielsen Norman Group demonstrates that improved writing style can increase usability by up to 124% when combining concise, scannable, and objective language¹.
• Improves professionalism and brand identity - Uniformity projects a professional image and reinforces brand consistency across all company communications. Studies show that consistent communication builds credibility and trust, which are crucial factors for web users when evaluating information sources².
• Increases efficiency - Writers can create content more quickly by following established guidelines, and readers can find information faster due to predictable structure and language.
• Simplifies collaboration and maintenance - When multiple authors contribute, a common style ensures coherence and makes documents easier to update and maintain over time. Clear writing guidelines reduce the cognitive burden on both writers and readers³.
• Facilitates translation and localization - Consistent terminology and sentence structure simplify the process of translating documents for global audiences. Plain language principles reduce complexity and ambiguity that can complicate translation work.
• Reduces learning curve - New employees can more easily understand and absorb information when it's presented in a familiar and consistent format. Research shows that users read only 28% of words on web pages, making clarity and consistency essential for effective communication⁴.
• Enables enterprise scalability - Style guides allow organizations to maintain consistency across large, distributed teams and global operations. Both Google and Microsoft demonstrate how comprehensive style guides support thousands of contributors while maintaining quality and coherence⁵⁶.
• Aligns with industry standards - Following established patterns used by leading technology companies ensures compatibility with widely adopted practices⁵⁶.

Documentation

Visit the comprehensive style guide documentation at: https://style-guide.ah.technology

Contributing

Contributions to improve the style guide are welcome. Please read the Contributing Guidelines for information on how to get started.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

Sources

Footnotes

1. Nielsen, Jakob. "How Users Read on the Web." Nielsen Norman Group, 1997. Research demonstrating 124% usability improvement with better writing style. https://www.nngroup.com/articles/how-users-read-on-the-web/ ↩

2. Nielsen, Jakob. "Legibility, Readability, and Comprehension: Making Users Read Your Words." Nielsen Norman Group, 2015. https://www.nngroup.com/articles/legibility-readability-comprehension/ ↩

3. Nielsen, Jakob. "Writing Style for Print vs. Web." Nielsen Norman Group, 2008. Research on cognitive burden and information processing. https://www.nngroup.com/articles/writing-style-for-print-vs-web/ ↩

4. Nielsen, Jakob. "How Little Do Users Read?" Nielsen Norman Group, 2008. Research showing users read only 28% of words on web pages. ↩

5. Google. "Google Style Guides." Google Open Source, 2025. Comprehensive collection of style guides for multiple programming languages and documentation. https://google.github.io/styleguide/ ↩ ↩²

6. Microsoft. "Microsoft Writing Style Guide." Microsoft Learn, 2025. Enterprise-level style guide for technical writing and documentation. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/style-guide/ ↩ ↩²