Plain language

Plain language is writing designed to ensure the reader understands as quickly, easily, and completely as possible. Plain language strives to be easy to read, understand, and use. It avoids verbose, convoluted language and jargon. In many countries, laws mandate that public agencies use plain language to increase access to programs and services. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities includes plain language in its definition of communication.

Definition

Most literacy and communications scholars agree that plain language means:

"Communication your audience can understand the first time they read or hear it"
"Clear and effective communication." (Joseph Kimble)
"The idiomatic and grammatical use of language that most effectively presents ideas to the reader." (Bryan Garner)
"Clear, straightforward expression, using only as many words as are necessary. It is language that avoids obscurity, inflated vocabulary and convoluted construction. It is not baby talk, nor is it a simplified version of ... language." (Dr Robert Eagleson)
"A literary style that is easy-to-read because it matches the reading skill of the audience." (William DuBay)
"Language that is clear, concise and correct." (Richard Wydick)
"Language that allows readers to make an informed decision about the content because it considers their literacy levels, cognitive abilities, contexts, wants, needs, attitudes and challenges." (Candice Burt)

Plain language focuses on ways of writing so that text is clear, concise, pertinent, and efficient and flows well for the reader. The Center for Plain Language states that: "[a] document, web site or other information is in plain language if the target audience can read it, understand what they read, and confidently act on it". Writing in plain language does not mean oversimplifying the concepts, but presenting the information in a way that makes it easier to understand and use by a wider audience. Texts written in plain language are still formal, but are easier to read and inspire confidence for the reader.

Using plain language in communications ultimately improves efficiency, because there is less ambiguity for the readers, and less time is taken for clarifications and explanations. Clear communication improves the user's experience with the organization, ultimately creating trust in the company.

Guidelines and tips

Writers who wish to write in plain language must first and foremost consider their target audience.

Provide informative headings, topic sentences, and frequent summaries to help orient the reader. For complex documents, create a comprehensive table of contents.

Organize the text logically: the most important information should be mentioned first, in the text as a whole and in every individual paragraph.

Accessibility

Some scholars promote plain language use as a means of making documents accessible, especially for disabled readers or those who lack the expertise and education to understand overly technical documents. Simpler language can decrease a reader's cognitive load and improve information retention in readers who normally struggle to read complex documents. Some scholars view plain language from a social justice perspective as a means of increasing equal access to information, especially for marginalized populations that might have decreased access to education. The US-based Center for Plain Language even declares that "Plain language is a civil right". On the other hand, plain language can be used for unethical ends, such as to obscure or withhold truths. Willerton proposes the BUROC framework for identifying situations requiring the ethical action of plain language: bureaucratic, unfamiliar, rights-oriented, critical.

Examples

{| class="wikitable" style="max-width: 50em"

! style="width:60%" | Original text

! Plain language

|- style="vertical-align:top"

| High-quality learning environments are a necessary precondition for facilitation and enhancement of the ongoing learning process.

| Children need good schools so they can learn well.

|- style="vertical-align:top"

| Firearm relinquishment is a mandatory condition.

| You must hand over your guns.

|- style="vertical-align:top"

| This temporary injunction remains in effect against both parties until the final decree of divorce or order of legal separation is entered, the complaint is dismissed, the parties reach agreement, or until the court modifies or dissolves this injunction. This injunction shall not preclude either party from applying to the court for further temporary orders, an extended injunction or modification or revocation of this temporary injunction.

| You must follow this order until the court changes or ends it, your case is finalized or dismissed, or you and your spouse make an agreement. Either spouse may ask the court to change or cancel this order

1951 to 2000

Lyman Bryson at Teachers College in Columbia University led efforts to supply average readers with more books of substance dealing with science and current events. Bryson's students include Irving Lorge and Rudolf Flesch, who became leaders in the plain-language movement. In 1975, Flesch collaborated with J. Peter Kincaid to create the Flesch-Kincaid readability test, which uses an algorithm to produce grade level scores that predict the level of education required to read the selected text. The instrument looks at word length (number of letters) and sentence length (number of words) and produces a score that is tied to a U.S. grade school level. For example, a score of 8.0 means that an eighth grader can read the document.

Others who later led plain language and readability research include educator Edgar Dale of Ohio State, Jeanne S. Chall of the Reading Laboratory of Harvard, and George R. Klare of Ohio University. Their efforts spurred the publication of over 200 readability formulas and 1,000 published studies on readability.

Beginning in 1935, a series of literacy surveys showed that the average reader in the U.S. was an adult of limited reading ability. Today, the average adult in the U.S. reads at the 9th-grade level.

Access to health information, educational and economic development opportunities, and government programs is often referred to in a social justice context. To ensure more community members can access this information, many adult educators, legal writers, and social program developers use plain language principles when they develop public documents. The goal of plain language translation is to increase accessibility for those with lower literacy levels.

In the United States, the movement towards plain language legal writing began with the 1963 book Language of the Law, by David Mellinkoff. However, the movement was popularized by Richard Wydick's 1979 book Plain English for Lawyers.

Concerned about the large number of suits against its customers to collect bad debts, the bank voluntarily made the decision to implement plain language policies in 1973. That same decade, the consumer-rights movement won legislation that required plain language in contracts, insurance policies, and government regulations. American law schools began requiring students to take legal writing classes that encouraged them to use plain English as much as possible and to avoid legal jargon, except when absolutely necessary. Public outrage with the skyrocketing number of unreadable government forms led to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980.

In 1972, the Plain Language Movement received practical political application, when President Richard Nixon decreed that the "Federal Register be written in layman's terms". On March 23, 1978, U.S. President Jimmy Carter signed Executive Order 12044, which said that federal officials must see that each regulation is "written in plain English and understandable to those who must comply with it". President Ronald Reagan rescinded these orders in 1981, but many political agencies continued to follow them. By 1991, eight states had also passed legislation related to plain language. Plain Language Association International (PLAIN) was formed in 1993 as the Plain Language Network. Its membership is international; it was incorporated as a non-profit organization in Canada in 2008.

In June 1998, President Bill Clinton issued a memorandum that called for executive departments and agencies to use plain language in all government documents. The Act's sponsor, U.S. Representative Bruce Braley, noted upon its passage that "The writing of documents in the standard vernacular English language will bolster and increase the accountability of government within America and will continue to more effectively save time and money in this country."

Plain language is also gaining traction in U.S. courts and legal aid agencies. California was the first state to adopt plain language court forms and instructions, for which it received the 2003 Burton Award for Outstanding Reform. A 2006 comparative study of plain language court forms concluded that "plain language court forms and instructions are better understood, easier to use, and more economical".

The European Union provides standards for making information easy to read and understand. The rules are comparable to the rules for plain language. Based in Germany there is a dictionary for plain language called Hurraki. In France, a 2002 decision by the Constitutional Council recognized a constitutional goal of ensuring the "clarity and intelligibility" of French law. In 2013 the Israeli Knesset passed service accessibility regulations which mandated the use of simple language and/or language simplification (Hebrew = פישוט לשוני), which were subsequently codified in 2015 for implementation.

ISO has formed a Working Group within Technical Committee ISO/TC 37 to develop plain language standards and guidelines. Their work began officially towards the end of 2019. It has published standard ISO 24495-1 in 2023.

Plain language

Definition

Guidelines and tips

Accessibility

Examples

1951 to 2000

See also

Opposites of plain language

References