Plain Language: A Key Element Of Accessibility ??

Plain Language promotes accessibility, inclusion and democracy. Plain Language was designed to make important information and ideas more accessible to everyone, especially those with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and other disabilities affecting reading, comprehension, and cognitive functions.

According to the International Plain Language Federation, "A communication is in plain language if its wording, structure, and design are so clear that the intended audience can easily find what they need, understand what they find, and use that information."

Plain language is not unprofessional writing. It is grammatically correct language that includes complete sentence structure and accurate word usage. Plain writing eliminates unnecessary words or expressions, yet it is not over-simplification. Plain Language done right ensures that accessible information is complete and fully informative — not over-simplified, heavily edited, or censored.

Plain language is not boring writing. Texts written in plain language can be both simple and creative. It is possible to use engaging and interesting language while still making your writing easy to read.

Benefits of Plain Language

Plain language helps improve accessibility as it makes critical information understandable and readable for everyone. Using plain language avoids creating barriers that set us apart from the people with whom we are communicating.

• Plain language helps improve communication and takes less time to read and understand.
• Plain language is important for promoting democracy, accessibility and inclusion.
• Plain language saves time and money. The content is easy to understand, so you spend less time explaining it to people or answering questions. 

Plain Language Best Practices

• Identify (and write for) your audience
• Organize your document in a logical reading order 
• Use active voice
• Avoid using technical jargon and acronyms
• Use short sentences and paragraphs
• Don't be wordy
• Don't write a large block of text. Break it up into digestible sections