Clear Language Guidance

Get Started

Summary

Clear language helps create more accessible content. It helps people understand what is important and what to do with the information they read. This includes guidance on word choice, language structure, instructions and use of numbers and symbols.

Writing and editing in plain language means using:

• Common words
• Concrete and literal words and phrases
• Consistent, clear and simple language structure.
• Language that clearly illustrates the main point and take-aways.
• Clear, short, step-by-step instructions
• Explanations of icons, numbers, and acronyms
• Multiple ways to present complex information (images, sound and text)

Why

• Clear language is more user-friendly.
• Language is more clear when it’s easier to understand. Readers can follow instructions and remember what’s important.
• When information is not clear, many people may feel more tired, confused, anxious or distracted.
• Some may read more slowly, re-read many times to process and remember information, or they may not understand the information at all.
• Clear language improves everyone's reading success and allows for a broader audience.

Who it helps

There are many types of disabilities that can make it harder to read, including a large range of cognitive and learning disabilities, mental health conditions, aging-related conditions, and cognitive impacts of some chronic or other health conditions.

Not all individuals with cognitive and learning disabilities have the same needs. Difficulties with reading vary by disability but also by individual. It’s important not to make assumptions. Many people with disabilities can understand specialized or complex information, but they may benefit from the same principles of clear language.

Clear language generally helps everyone, especially people who may have difficulty reading due to disability. Reading may also be more difficult when tired, distracted, under stress, with low-literacy, when working outside one’s first language (such as with some sign language users), or when vision is impaired.

Difficulties with reading may be related to challenges with:

• Learning, decoding, using or remembering words
• Understanding words and phrases that are abstract or ambiguous
• Following complex sentence or story structure
• Reading and processing speed
• Determining main point from detail
• Understanding instructions and what to do with them
• Remembering what was read
• Using new and unfamiliar symbols and/or acronyms
• Understanding math and numbers

How

• Write clearly and edit your content.
• Follow principles for plain language.
• Use a professional editor when possible.
• Refer to the Write tab for more instructions.

Exceptions

• Specialized or complex information - although even where information requires a specialized vocabulary or complex explanation, everyone benefits from some of the same techniques for clear words.
• Where documents are complex or specialized, provide clear language summaries (see summary guidance).
• Copyrighted, artistic or other text material with restrictions that prevent modifications.
• Artistic or humorous works can use figurative langage, metaphors, sarcasm, or irony, but if possible, they should give a literal explanation.

Examples

Plan

Planning Responsibilities

1. Prior to finalizing the project budget, consider possible costs associated with developing accessible content, written in clear language.
2. During project planning, coordinate efforts with the project team to organize and schedule the approach to creating content written in clear language. Considerations to discuss:
   • If possible, secure content authors or editors with experience writing in plain language
   • Direct content authors to the clear language guideline
   • Provide training on how to develop content that uses clear language (also called plain language) principles.
   • Determine if you will create a style guide to clearly communicate the unique needs of your content
   • Plan and schedule iterative clear language quality assurance checks throughout the project cycle. Schedule time for cycles of editing.
   • If your content requires legal review, bring in legal experts early so they agree with using clear language.
   • If your content uses a lot of technical terms, idioms, jargon, metaphors or sarcasm, plan the time to write clear language summaries.
   • You may need a glossary section to define terms. This will need to be designed and coded.

Tips for Collaboration

• Work with the design team to include visually and semantically distinct heading structure (see Headings) and ability to display definitions of terms and summaries.
• Decide if you will do studies to gather end user feedback that includes people with disabilities. If so, develop a schedule and process for obtaining and integrating the feedback.
• Decide which approach will be used to evaluate clear language. For example, one or more of the following approaches could be used:
  • Use an professional editor
  • If a style guide exists, use this to evaluate clear language
  • Use the rubric in the Method Edit Text for Clear Language

Design

1. You must ensure that...
   • Headings levels are clearly organized and visually distinct
   • If needed, design visually distinct summaries before blocks of text
   • Style definitions to be visually prominent
   • Design glossary
   • Use white space appropriately (reference White Space guideline (TBD)
2. This must...
   • Make it easy for users to scan blocks of text
   • Visually organize the levels of the headings
   • Make it easy to find definitions and summaries.
   • If possible, use in-line definitions so the user can get to the definition in one click and return to their place in one click. Usually this is done with a modal (popup) with a close button, which can be an X is upper right.

Write

Editorial Responsibilities

The following is a clear language checklist to use when writing and editing.

Words and Phrases:

• Use clear, simple, and commonly known words.
• Use active verbs and a simple tense.
• Use literal, concrete words and phrases and avoid abstract metaphor.
• Avoid inferences and sarcasm.
• Remove unnecessary words.
• Spell out acronyms.
• Avoid creating new words for your content. If necessary, provide clear explanation.

Sentences:

• Use shorter sentences.
• Avoid double negatives.
• Avoid clauses inside clauses.
• Use accurate punctuation.

Paragraphs:

• Use a clear and consistent writing structure.
• Use shorter paragraphs. Break down complex ideas into multiple paragraphs.
• Point out the most important points and take-aways.
• Provide context so the reader understands why this is important.
• Keep to focus -- avoid distractions and tangents to secondary content.
• Create natural breakpoints so reader with fatigue can stop and resume later.
• Provide summaries of long documents.

Reminders:

• Provide reminders of main points and takeaways.

Instructions:

• Use clear, short step-by-step instructions when you want someone to do something.
• Use headings for each section of the steps.
• Point out the most important steps.
• If steps need preparation, list them separately to help users organize themselves in advance.

Numbers and Symbols:

• Provide alternatives or explain numbers, symbols, and icons.

Develop

Technical Responsibilities

1. You must ensure that inline definitions are accessible by:
   • Make inline definitions keyboard accessible
   • Once activated (either by keyboard or hover), ensure definitions remain open until the user closes them. (EDNOTE: Look at BBC rules for hover on mobile).
   • Make definitions visually distinct from a link.
   • Design one click to the definition and one click return.
   • When inline definition are displayed in a modal, all the accessibility requirements of a modal should be included, such as: disable the background text (use a modal display) and ensure that background text is covered or blurred so people aren't confused between foreground and background text, and that the keyboard focus remains in the modal until it is closed.

Examples & Demo:

Video (Embedded or Links) (TBD)

Evaluate

Testing Responsibilities

Because language is used in many ways for many different purposes,we do not recommend prescriptive testing. Needs vary between languages. The best way to test this guideline is with an editor who is trained in plain language techniques within the language being used.

1. You must ensure that the recommendations for clear language in the Write tab are implemented in a way that increases comprehension.
2. Clear language is not just a rote implementation of rules. The results of clear language should improve comprehension for everyone, particularly people with cognitive and learning disabilities. The rules should guide without being prescriptive. As a result, clear language benefits from user testing but it is not required.

Auto-Testing Tips:

Use a grammar checker and spell checker. Manually confirm that the error corrections and suggestions make sense.

Manual Testing Tips:

See the Test tab within the Method for Edit Text for Clear Language

Testing with Users:

• Clearly state that the content is being tested not the users
• Ensure that content selected for testing does not raise users’ anxiety
• Test with users who have different cognitive and learning disabilities as their experience will be different.

Methods

• Edit Text for Clear Language
• Definitions for Term and Abbreviations (TBD)