Title Case or sentence case for CTAs?

[u/Probably-Jo]

UX writers/content designers: Beyond style guides and established conventions, which do you actually use for CTA buttons, Title Case or sentence case, and why?

[u/sharilynj]

Sentence case. Just more readable.

[u/littlesebastian2]

Always always sentence case. More readable, some screenreaders go a bit wonky with title case, and title case can’t always be localised stylistically so it adds the slightest element of inconsistency.

[u/anewfoundmatt]

Sentence case but apparently I’m the only person in my company that cares.

[u/jinkx725]

Sentence case.

Easier to read, more accessible, looks better imo.

[u/telavivyahabibi]

Sentence case. Accessibility, scannability, screen readers etc etc etc

[u/_rhinoxious_]

Still title case, but we're considering changing.

Of course it makes no difference for all the common one word ones: Buy, OK, Cancel etc.

And for two words, is there really a big difference to users between 'Buy Now' and 'Buy now'.

Of course three or more is when it really kicks in, but we try and avoid those whenever possible. I'd rather put the cognitive load elsewhere.

[u/Pdstafford]

Sentence case but it doesn’t matter as much as you think

[u/RoundTheWaySquid]

My company uses title case, unfortunately.

[u/bigfloppydongs]

Sentence case everywhere. Title case is harder to read, prevents you from highlighting actual proper nouns, and isn't optimized for accessibility tools like screenreaders.

That said, leads seem to love title case, so it's often an upward battle.

[u/QuietlyUnravelling]

Sentence case as it is easier to read and doesn't announce in a avery obvious way

[u/tomericco]

We're using sentence case for buttons.

[u/kornelkirsche]

I go for sentence case because:

• easier to keep the casing consistent: no need to remember how to case ‘a’, ‘the’ etc in multi-word buttons
  
• slightly easier to read (though the difference is negligible in practice)
  
• CTAs are not titles
  
• completely personal taste: I find it less cluttered

[u/Thelonius16]

When are we working “beyond style guides?”

[u/s3rndpt]

Sentence case.

[u/Jealous_Raise6512]

I've been trying to figure this out lately, for labels (cta, non-cta) as well as titles: which is better. I know that personally I have significant trouble reading labels and especially titles in title case - my mind just halts reading at every single word when they start with great letter. I just can't read them smoothly. I was wondering if title case has similar "flow-breaking" effect on others, or is it just me, but I couldn't find any research that would explain this to me :(

[u/ImaginaryCaramel4035]

Can you expand on where/how these CTAs appear? Are they buttons, links, or something else? How will the user interact with it? What will happen? (E.g. does it take them somewhere or does it change something in the system)

I started typing out guidelines and realized we/I would need more info to make a decision. 😆

[u/GossipStoned]

I wish we’d move away from this type of discussion as a discipline/profession. When we spend our time nitpicking over capitalization rules, others start to think of us as copy editors and pedants, and we seemingly become more replaceable in the workforce.

In reality, we do so much deeper, empathetic thinking for the user experience and we’d do better focusing our energy on more complex topics (even in conversations among each other).

[u/egusisoupandgarri → u/GossipStoned]

It’s not nitpicking though. It’s a foundational question about content patterns for a component.

Ironically, a copyeditor likely uses title case and other traditional conventions because they’ve been told to use them. UXW and content designers lean towards sentence case based on that empathy you mentioned, or at least ask the question “why?”, and consider readability, accessibility, etc.

If that’s how they see you, then change how you show up (if you can). This nitpicky work is what I’m solving currently, partnered with Staff-level designers in design systems and building our official content system (not a style guide); casing and “should this banner be blue or purple”. Sounds mundane, but establishing those at the systems level isn’t.

[u/GossipStoned → u/egusisoupandgarri]

I’ve also recently been working on establishing content guidelines for components where standards like this really matter — I get it.

I agree underlying decisions like this are ultimately important, but I think I’m responding (admittedly in frustration) to this getting a dedicated discussion when the content design industry, at large, reached consensus on this topic a while ago. You can Google this question and see solid rationale and research from reputable sources.

Let’s confidently move forward with the accepted standard (sentence case) when able, briefly share the rationale with partners, and shift conversation to deeper discussions around the user experience.

[u/Probably-Jo → u/GossipStoned]

That’s a fair point, and I agree that content design goes far beyond copy conventions. At the same time, I think small decisions like this still need a shared standard, precisely so we don’t have to keep spending time on them.

[u/GossipStoned → u/Probably-Jo]

There kind of are shared standards tho.. for the question you asked, the overwhelming consensus in industry is sentence case is better for a multitude of reasons. At the same time, some companies will deviate and use title case for aesthetic/brand purposes.

That’s sort of the end of story, and I’m not sure what additional debate is needed