Clear information gets the job done…
For you and for society
There is no downside to clear information. For the general public and limited-literacy target groups, clarity is critical. It is essential to ensure informed decision making and aid social equity. But also, for higher-literacy readers like professional audiences, clarity isn’t just “nice to have,” it enhances productivity, quality, and engagement.
Try this thought experiment:
- Think computer printer manual
- Think government information
- Think financial correspondence
- Think healthcare material
Massive headache brewing? Blood pressure rising? Sweaty palms? Sudden urge to run? … to hide? …to curl up in a ball and hope you’ll wake up soon?
Like your reaction, this is the effect unclear language has on your target audiences, regardless of their literacy level. For lower-literacy target groups, the effects are seriously compounded. But even for high-literacy target groups like professional audiences, just the mere mention of unclear, exhausting information foreshadows a combination of confusion, frustration, and disinterest. We need not look further than the global financial crisis, Brexit, or the COVID-19 pandemic to see how unclear information can lead to misinformed and uniformed decision making. Decisions that don’t allow people to thrive or in some cases, even survive.
Go from complex to clear…
To address reading ease and comprehension issues, as a guideline, experts recommend writing information intended for the general public at the 8th or 9th grade level and often recommend the 5th or even 3rd grade level for important health and safety information.
But how? The good news is that every complex sentence has a clearer counterpart (even your HR manual!). The key to unlocking information’s hidden meaning—not to mention also successfully meeting accessibility guidelines—is to have it edited. But not just any edit, an edit based on plain English writing techniques.
Why not try before you buy? To bring the benefits of plain English to life, consider a complimentary high-level assessment summary or editing sample.
