Menu Item Names

You can use different parts of speech to name your menu items depending on what effect they have when the user chooses a specific item. For menu items that act as commands, use verbs (or verb phrases) that declare the action that occurs when the user chooses the item. Some examples are Save, which means save my file, and Copy, which means copy the selected data. Your menu command names should fit into a similar sentence.

If the item changes an attribute of a selected object, use an adjective (or adjective phrase) that describes the change. Adjectives in menus imply an action. They should fit into the sentence "Change the selected object or objects to . . . " For example, when people think of choosing a font style such as bold, they might think, "Change the selected text to bold," as they choose the adjective from the menu. Figure 4-9 shows a menu that contains adjectives
as items.

Figure 4-9 A menu with adjectives

Use one word for menu item names when possible. Capitalize the first letter of the first word of each command and capitalize the important words in phrases. For more information on the style of language in the interface,
see the section "Style" beginning on page 306 in Chapter 11, "Languagegraphics/HIG_L-511.jpg." It presents the rules for capitalization and usage of language. Figure 4-10 shows a menu with the items properly capitalized.

Figure 4-10 Command names properly capitalized

Menus created using the standard menu definition in the Macintosh Toolbox display menu items in the system font, which is 12-point Chicago in the Roman version of system software. The system font for the primary script system varies depending on the version of localized system software installed in the user's computer when multiple script systems are installed. When a menu item is unavailable, it is displayed in gray letters. When a user moves the pointer over the dimmed item, it isn't highlighted. Figure 4-11 shows
this behavior.

Figure 4-11 Unavailable items aren't highlighted