11. US or UK English?

If you are working for a multinational organisation, or for the web, it is likely your copy will be seen by a high proportion of overseas readers, which in turn may mean you have to use US rather than UK English. There is no hard and fast rule over which version should take precedence, but in general:

• If your copy will be read predominantly by people in the UK, Europe, Middle East or Africa, stick to UK English.
• If your copy will be read predominantly by people in North or South America, use US English.

Asia is a bit more complicated. Some countries, such as India or Nepal, will probably favour UK English while Pacific Rim nations may be more at home with American. If in doubt, it is probably best to use the latter. Australians, of course, have their own particular uses of the language.