Legal Writing

While doing some research for a terms and conditions of service agreement I am working on for a client, I began noticing differences in the way people spell "website" (which is the appropriate way). I'm actually quite fond of knowing about the rights and wrongs of obscure spelling and grammar nuances, so I began searching for an authority on how this word is spelled. Mashable published an article back in 2010 noting how the AP (Associated Press) Stylebook officially changed the previously correct, "web site" to the now correct "website." While I don't have a subscription to the AP Stylebook, I'll take Mashable's word for it that  reporters and journalists are all adhering to "website." Grammarist shed some new light on the differences in spelling, noting that the correct way used to be "Web site" (capital "W"), but the more modern way is lowercase "website."Grammarist goes into further detail on this one, noting the differences between news agencies timely adoption/integration of new tech terms. Google's Terms of Service actually does not use the term "website" or "web site" a single time in its entire ToS Agreement. Facebook ∆, Twitter, Yelp, The American Bar Association, The California Bar Association and the Texas Bar Association all use the lowercase, single word spelling of "website" in their terms of use/service agreements. Yahoo, on the other hand, references its "World Wide Web Sites" twice in its Terms of Service Agreement. So which way do you spell it? Web site, or website? I would be willing to wager that those of you who spell "Web site" also double space after periods, but that's a different conversation entirely.