Symbols and characters

A symbol is usually represented in a symbol font, such as Wingdings, and is an image rather than a letter of an alphabet.

However, there is overlap between fonts and the locations of symbols and characters.

Use symbols in their generic sense, such as the percent symbol (%). 

Don’t use the word symbol when you mean character, letter, or digit. 

Generally, a character is taken to represent the output of hitting a key or combination of keys on a keyboard (most often, a letter of an alphabet):  A-Z, 0-9, ! @ £ $ % ^ & * ( ) _ + }

While screen-reading applications can be set to read special characters such as the ampersand symbol (&), it’s generally best to avoid using it whenever possible. Plus, the & symbol can draw attention to the conjunction, which is the least important part of the sentence. 

As a result, avoid using & to replace the word and except when:

• It is part of a company's formal name (Legal & General).
• It is part of an abbreviation from our A–Z word list (S&OP).
• It is being used in a tweet or an ad where space is at a premium.

In UI copy, always use the word and. However, you can use the & symbol in UI labels. 

Avoid using the & symbol as a design element or for anything that is purely stylistic in purpose.

However, & is acceptable when writing for social media channels. 

Guidance coming soon.

Use the percent symbol (%) when paired with a number.

Use the word percentage without a number.

In the case of U.S. dollars, Euros, and UK pounds, the symbol is placed before the number ($100, €100, and £100). In the case of Swiss francs, the initialism gets placed after the number (100CHF).