Web
The audiences we reach are more likely to encounter the City of Virginia Beach brand online than via any other medium. This makes delivering high-quality, effective, and consistent digital experiences critical to serving our varied audiences and achieving our institutional goals.
All core City of Virginia Beach web experiences, including all internal and external channels, are required to follow the City of Virginia Beach guidelines and must meet the following minimum requirements:
Identity and technical requirements
- Include City of Virginia Beach (or department) logo.
- Use official brand fonts, colors, and graphic elements.
- Be ADA and WCAG 2.1 AA compliant.
Email Messages
All emails sent by staff should use similar typography and formatting. Email messages should not be embellished in decorative fonts, background colors and wallpapers. Alternate text should be added to all images inserted into body of email.
Email Subject Line
What works for our audiences
- Keep them short and sweet. Short and medium-length subject lines have higher open rates, which ultimately affects conversion rates. Limit to 50-60 characters or less.
- Clarity over cleverness: Residents respond best to straightforward, focused subject lines that clearly state the value; avoid using “and more”
- Local context: Place names build trust and relevance.
- Action-oriented phrasing: Use verbs that show what the recipient can do .
- Timeliness: Tie to current events, seasons, or deadlines.
- Questions: Engaging for both residents and businesses.
What to avoid
- Technical/bureaucratic language
- Vague questions
- Too many topics
- Unfamiliar acronyms
- Spammy words/formatting
Email Signature
A consistent email signature helps City of Virginia Beach Members communicate in a professional way that strengthens the brand. All City employees should use the format shown below on all City devices including the Outlook app, webmail, and mobile device mail apps. The font size should be 12pt at a minimum but can be increased for comfort and readability.
The signature should include the following:
- Individual's first and last name
- Department name
- Position/title and division/unit (division/unit are optional)
- Office and/or mobile telephone numbers
- Email address
- Department website or VirginiaBeach.gov main site
- Building name and suite number
- Address (add a second address line if needed)
Calibri is an easily accessible typeface and approved to use in emails. The signature should not be embellished in decorative fonts, emojis, images, personal quotes, social. media icons, different fonts, or department logos.
The use of pronouns is encouraged by the City’s Inclusion and Diversity Council but is not mandatory. You can include your division/unit name after your position/title, if needed. All text should be black.
Forms
Collecting information, conducting surveys, or gathering feedback and submissions should be done using web forms instead of fillable PDFs. Web forms provide an integrated experience that is both accessible and easy to use.
Hyperlinks
Hyperlink Meaningful Text
The text you use for your links should be concise and meaningful. The words you use for your link should be informative and relevant to where the link leads. Words like “click here” or “click for details” are uninformative and do not provide enough context to be accessible. Instead use “visit our website” or “register online.
Casing
When displaying a URL or email address, use CamelCase as a way to separate the words by making the first letter of each word capitalized and not using spaces. ex. VirginiaBeach.gov ex. PHPWetlands@VBgov.com
Hyperlink Design
Accessibility standards recommend that digital hyperlinks be blue and underlined so that they are recognizable. On communication and marketing materials, we style our hyperlinks using a heavier-weighted font (bold or extrabold), our Navy Pride Blue brand color (when possible), and a dotted underline.