--- a/testing/web-platform/tests/docs/writing-tests/general-guidelines.md
+++ b/testing/web-platform/tests/docs/writing-tests/general-guidelines.md
@@ -170,17 +170,17 @@ your local web-platform-tests working di
 
 The lint tool is also run automatically for every submitted pull request,
 and reviewers will not merge branches with tests that have lint errors, so
 you must fix any errors the lint tool reports. For details on doing that,
 see the [lint-tool documentation][lint-tool].
 
 But in the unusual case of error reports for things essential to a certain
 test or that for other exceptional reasons shouldn't prevent a merge of a
-test, update and commit the `lint.whitelist` file in the web-platform-tests
+test, update and commit the `lint.ignorelist` file in the web-platform-tests
 root directory to suppress the error reports. For details on doing that,
 see the [lint-tool documentation][lint-tool].
 
 
 ## CSS-Specific Requirements
 
 In order to be included in an official specification test suite, tests
 for CSS have some additional requirements for:

--- a/testing/web-platform/tests/docs/writing-tests/lint-tool.md
+++ b/testing/web-platform/tests/docs/writing-tests/lint-tool.md
@@ -6,77 +6,73 @@ web-platform-tests working directory lik
 
 ```
 ./wpt lint
 ```
 
 The lint tool is also run automatically for every submitted pull request,
 and reviewers will not merge branches with tests that have lint errors, so
 you must either [fix all lint errors](#fixing-lint-errors), or you must
-[whitelist test files](#updating-the-whitelist) to suppress the errors.
+[add an exception](#updating-the-ignorelist) to suppress the errors.
 
 ## Fixing lint errors
 
-You must fix any errors the lint tool reports, unless an error is for
-something essential to a certain test or that for some other
-exceptional reason shouldn't prevent the test from being merged; in
-those cases you can [whitelist test files](#updating-the-whitelist)
-to suppress the errors. In all other cases, follow the instructions
-below to fix all errors reported.
+You must fix any errors the lint tool reports, unless an error is for something
+essential to a certain test or that for some other exceptional reason shouldn't
+prevent the test from being merged; in those cases you can [add an
+exception](#updating-the-ignorelist) to suppress the errors. In all other
+cases, follow the instructions below to fix all errors reported.
 
 <!--
   This listing is automatically generated from the linting tool's Python source
   code.
 -->
 
 ```eval_rst
 .. wpt-lint-rules:: tools.lint.rules
 ```
 
-## Updating the whitelist
+## Updating the ignorelist
 
 Normally you must [fix all lint errors](#fixing-lint-errors). But in the
 unusual case of error reports for things essential to certain tests or that
 for other exceptional reasons shouldn't prevent a merge of a test, you can
-update and commit the `lint.whitelist` file in the web-platform-tests root
+update and commit the `lint.ignorelist` file in the web-platform-tests root
 directory to suppress errors the lint tool would report for a test file.
 
-To add a test file or directory to the whitelist, use the following format:
+To add a test file or directory to the list, use the following format:
 
 ```
 ERROR TYPE:file/name/pattern
 ```
 
-For example, to whitelist the file `example/file.html` such that all
-`TRAILING WHITESPACE` errors the lint tool would report for it are
-suppressed, add the following line to the `lint.whitelist` file:
+For example, to ignore all `TRAILING WHITESPACE` errors in the file
+`example/file.html`, add the following line to the `lint.ignorelist` file:
 
 ```
 TRAILING WHITESPACE:example/file.html
 ```
 
-To whitelist an entire directory rather than just one file, use the `*`
-wildcard. For example, to whitelist the `example` directory such that all
-`TRAILING WHITESPACE` errors the lint tool would report for any files in it
-are suppressed, add the following line to the `lint.whitelist` file:
+To ignore errors for an entire directory rather than just one file, use the `*`
+wildcard. For example, to ignore all `TRAILING WHITESPACE` errors in the
+`example` directory, add the following line to the `lint.ignorelist` file:
 
 ```
 TRAILING WHITESPACE:example/*
 ```
 
 Similarly, you can also
 use
 [shell-style wildcards](https://docs.python.org/2/library/fnmatch.html) to
 express other filename patterns or directory-name patterns.
 
-Finally, to whitelist just one line in a file, use the following format:
+Finally, to ignore just one line in a file, use the following format:
 
 ```
 ERROR TYPE:file/name/pattern:line_number
 ```
 
-For example, to whitelist just line 128 of the file `example/file.html`
-such that any `TRAILING WHITESPACE` error the lint tool would report for
-that line is suppressed, add the following to the `lint.whitelist` file:
+For example, to ignore the `TRAILING WHITESPACE` error for just line 128 of the
+file `example/file.html`, add the following to the `lint.ignorelist` file:
 
 ```
 TRAILING WHITESPACE:example/file.html:128
 ```