Writing for everyone – Plain Language and Easy Read

Article published 26 July 2023

by Máire O’Dwyer

Plain language

The Plain English Campaign website has a fun tool called the Gobbledygook Generator. On a click it creates random gobbledygook such as:

Our exploratory research points to total reciprocal alignment.
The solution can only be holistic organisational flexibility.

(Try it for yourself here.) Dictionaries describe ‘gobbledygook’ as ‘language that sounds important and official but that is difficult to understand’ and ‘language that is meaningless or is made unintelligible by excessive use of technical terms’. And so, plain language to the rescue.

What is plain language?

To understand plain language, it’s useful to first look at an example. Compare the two versions below, and their readability statistics:

Original version:

You are requested to pay the premium on your subscription, which is now overdue. We hereby give notice that unless the premium on your subscription is paid within 30 days from the date of this notification, we intend to cancel the account with immediate effect.

(Flesch-Kincaid reading ease: 44.8, college level. Around 33 per cent of adults can read at this level.)

Plain language version:

Please pay your subscription as it is overdue. We will cancel your subscription if you do not pay by 30 June.

(Flesch-Kincaid reading ease: 79.3, 12- to 13-year-olds. Around 90 per cent of adults can read at this level.)

The original version contains all the sins of difficult writing: unfamiliar words, long sentences, passive voice, redundant words and vagueness (for example, the phrase ‘30 days from the date of this notification’ is too vague for many readers). The plain language version says the same thing in a much simpler way.

So, plain language is a style of writing that aims to be understood by a wide range of people. The plain language movement grew from a realisation that literacy in the population is often lower than expected (in Ireland and the UK, the average reading age is 9 or 10 years). We have learnt that in situations where understanding is vital – such as public health during a global pandemic – we need to communicate in plain language to reach the widest possible audience. Plain language’s aim is that readers can:

find what they need
understand what they find the first time they read it
use what they find to meet their needs.

Who should use plain language?

The plain answer is everyone. The readability statistics for the examples above give an idea of who will understand them – in the first version, college undergraduates, and in the second, children of around 12 years of age. It makes sense that if you want people to pay their bills, you make this clear in your communications. The same applies everywhere: in sales, public services, business, government.

So, plain language is not some vague concept – it has real practical value. Organisations that use plain language see cost savings. People who deal with state organisations have easier and fairer access to services.

Where did plain language come from?

Not so long ago many professionals and businesses hid behind complex language, guarding their territory. People often gave up trying to understand and signed on the dotted line. In the past few decades, individuals and organisations began to resist the spread of jargon, especially in communications for the public.

Two English writers greatly influenced the campaign: George Orwell and Ernest Gowers. In 1954 Gowers published The Complete Plain Words, a guide to plain writing which has never been out of print since.

Today the emphasis is on rights: the idea that a part of public services is making them clear to the people who will use them. So now the most important aspect of writing is thinking about who will read the document – the audience.

How does the brain work when we read?

Brain imaging and research into artificial intelligence show the areas of the brain involved in reading. It is a complex task, involving all brain regions. Skills used include attention, planning, reasoning, predicting and problem solving. When reading we use both working memory and long-term memory. We also need to remember vocabulary and concepts, use grammatical knowledge and carry out visual processing.

Brain imaging shows greater brain activity when a sentence is unexpected or difficult. And studies show what we all know – that too much effort leads to demotivation. In plain terms, the reader stops reading. The goal of plain language is to keep readers reading by minimising effort and maximising information gain.

**Don’t make the reader work; we want our message to leap off the page. Image by Sasin Tipchai from Pixabay.**

How do I write in plain language?

Writing well in plain language takes practice, but the list below contains the main guidelines. In brief, think how you would say something in speech, because we are more likely to use plain language when speaking.

Before starting to write, think about your audience.
Plan and organise your material before writing.
Keep sentences to 15 to 20 words.
Use clear paragraphs containing logically related information.
Use familiar words.
Write briefly and remove unnecessary words and phrases.
Use the active voice where possible.
Avoid unnecessary jargon.

Is it all about the words?

People often think plain language is all about words, but in fact two other aspects are equally important: structure and design. Information must be logically structured, with each piece of information following from the previous. And design for plain language documents mirrors the rules for words – keep it simple by ensuring good contrast, using a suitable typeface, and so on.

How do we assess how readable text is?

We use two main ways to check how readable text is: readability statistics and asking people if they understand. The Flesch-Kincaid readability formula and other similar formulas give a basic idea of readability level. But these are mathematical formulas based on the length of words and sentences, and so the measure is crude. A much better way of checking readability is to ask the people who will use the document.

Where is plain language going?

The International Organization for Standardization just published a new standard for plain language: ISO 24495: Plain language – Part 1: Governing principles and guidelines. Plain language usage is constantly growing.

Easy Read

Easy Read is a form of accessible information. Easy Read information must be easy to find, easy to read, easy to understand and easy to use. This style of writing originally developed in the disability community. It uses simple jargon-free language, short sentences and images that support the text.

As this image shows, Easy Read documents have images down the left-hand side with accompanying text on the right.

**An example of an Easy Read document.**

Who benefits from Easy Read?

Easy Read was originally developed for people with intellectual disabilities or cognitive impairment. Its use has expanded to people with visual problems, dyslexia or low literacy, or people whose first language is not English. People with high literacy levels sometimes use the Easy Read version to get the ‘gist’ of a complex document before reading it in full.

Why is Easy Read important?

The rights of people with disabilities include the right to information they can understand. Just as ramps help people with disabilities to access buildings, Easy Read helps people to access information. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities includes the right to accessible information, so Easy Read has an important rights aspect.

What makes Easy Read different?

Easy Read places the reader at the centre by asking who is this information for, what do they need to know, and why do they need to know it. It uses stories and examples relevant to the audience.

Images are an important part of Easy Read. The focus of the image is the same keyword as the focus of the sentence. The image also summarises the ‘action’ related to that object.

**Easy Read pictures showing ‘1 in 10 women’ and ‘agreement’. Images/Resources copyright © LYPFT.**

Many public bodies now produce Easy Read versions of their documents. For example, see the HSE’s Covid-19 guide. This is likely to increase as awareness of this area grows.

Final note

I wrote this piece according to plain language principles, although its Flesch-Kincaid readability score of 54.5 is a little below the standard plain language score of 60. The format, using questions as section headers, is a common plain language technique. Almost all sentences are 25 words or below, and it uses active voice as far as possible.