My inclination would be to either use all caps or all small caps. Try both and see which looks better with the color of the paragraph?

--Jim K.

First thought: WWBD? :^D (What would Bringhurst do?)

Second thought: Whatever is the smallcaps style for the entire piece? That is what you should follow.

This problem is not typographically solvable, but requires editing (re-keying):
1. Rewrite the sentence so that ACC is not the first word, or
2. Spell it out in full.

Another approach is to use all caps for ACC but at a slightly smaller size than the full caps. This is the New Yorker's style for acronyms when there are no periods.

I'm assuming by the way you wrote your post that ACC should be all caps to begin with.

Is ACC referenced anywhere in the body of text before that sentence? Standard writing practices would be, if it's appearing for the first time, to write it as, "A Common Cold (ACC) is aware that there is no real cure.…". Then after that it is acceptable to refer to the acronym.

Also, if you follow the "never start a sentence with a #" rule, spelling it out would be a perfectly acceptable alternative. Or stick a filler word like 'the' in front.

Is the first letter in the abbreviation really more important?

Do you get compensation for this, Chris?

—K

Was this a workplace accident? If so I hope your levies are up to date!

-nic