Information about Abbreviations

Last Updated 13-Jan-2004

General Description

Due to accessibility requirements and internationalization constraints, Oracle's policy is to avoid abbreviations in Web-based applications. Two exceptions to this rule are:

Defined Abbreviations
The Date Picker

Guideline Attributes

Spec Version # - 3.1
Spec Contributors - Betsy Beier, Mervyn Dennehy
UI Models - all models
Example Products - all products
Related Guidelines - all

Interaction and Usage Specifications

Defined Abbreviations

When use of abbreviations is unavoidable due to space constraints, designers can define the abbreviation using key notation, a tip, or a messaging icon.

Defined abbreviations follow these rules:

Only abbreviate terms if space is not available for the full term.
Each abbreviation must be defined above the first instance of the abbreviation in a page or group of related pages.
Key notation is the preferred method of defining abbreviations, but is limited to four definitions in a single location per page.
If the page already contains four key notation definitions, or the page is so long that a definition may not be visible when needed, use a tip or a messaging icon to define abbreviations.
If the term consists of multiple words, abbreviate to a single word, and use key notation for the full term, such as "Yield = Annual Percentage Yield"
Oracle has approved certain abbreviations and acronyms for use when space for the full term is not available. Refer to the tables below for details.
The percent symbol "%" can be used without key notation. See Common Formats: Numeric Information.
If you have multiple uses of a term, but only some must be abbreviated due to space constraints, fully spell out those with enough space for the full term.
For math or spreadsheet functions, see Common Formats: Math Operators, Functions, and Symbols.

See the Key Notation specification for more information.

Standard Abbreviations and Acronyms

Oracle Internationalization (I18N) has already developed translations for standard abbreviated terms and acronyms. Even though an acronym may be used across more than one language, it may not be used in Oracle products unless already registered by I18N.

In Oracle HTML apps, these abbreviations and acronyms may only be used when:

Space is not available for the full term, AND
When the full term is specified with key notation.

Oracle internal developers can see the full list of standard abbreviations, acronyms, currency codes, and symbols at the following internal sites:

Registered Abbreviations:
http://appsre.us.oracle.com/i18n/dev_standards/AcroAbbre/registered/Abbr_reg.htm

Registered Acronyms:
http://appsre.us.oracle.com/i18n/dev_standards/AcroAbbre/registered/Acro_reg.htm

Registered Currency Codes:
http://appsre.us.oracle.com/i18n/dev_standards/AcroAbbre/registered/Curr_reg.htm

Registered Symbols:
http://appsre.us.oracle.com/i18n/dev_standards/AcroAbbre/registered/Symb_reg.htm

Note: Certain non-standard acronyms need to be replaced with different terms that convey the same meaning: For example, instead of expanding "URL" to "Universal Resource Locator", use the terms "Web address" or "Web site".

Date Picker

The Date Picker is implemented with the Java Calendar object, which displays a standard set of abbreviations for months and days of the week in its header row. The Calendar object has been localized into all supported languages. The language displayed is determined by the object's language setting.

See the Date Picker specification for details.