Plain Language

overview

Plain language is a way of writing so that more people can easily read and understand your content. Typically it is written at a 6th-8th grade reading level for the United States. It also helps with language translation; especially auto-translations like Google. 

It not only means changing terms to simpler ones, but it also means simplifying and organizing your content so that it prioritizes the meaning and any instructions for your audience. This web page discusses how you can use plain language to create more accessible communications. 


how-to

How to Organize Your Content

Organize your content with a wide audience in mind. Organizing your content is important in breaking down ideas into well-structured, digestible information.

  1. First, draft your ideas in an outline.
  2. Use the outline to formulate your headings.
  3. Break up content into digestible sections.
  4. Limit writing within paragraphs to 3-5 sentences or less.
  5. Use images to convey meaning and visually break up walls of text.
  6. Use steps to guide the reader.

Use Headings to Make Your Content Easy to Understand and Navigate

Create your headings so that they provide easily scannable information that readers can easily understand. There are three types of headings that can help with this:

  1. Question headings: If you know what questions your audience is asking you can use the question-and-answer format to help your audience scan the document and find specific information.
  2. Action headings: Guide the user to take an action or perform a specific task.
  3. Topic headings: Topic headings are generally the least useful type of heading because they are often generalized or vague. Try and be specific if using this type of heading.

Be sure to use the heading levels in sequential order. Screen readers use headings to help the reader navigate content. It is very important to ensure that heading levels are not skipped (e.g. do not skip from heading level 2 to heading level 4).

Topic-Based Introductions

Create your headings so that they provide easily scannable information that readers can easily understand. There are three types of headings that can help with this:

  1. Question headings: If you know what questions your audience is asking you can use the question-and-answer format to help your audience scan the document and find specific information.
  2. Action headings: Guide the user to take an action or perform a specific task.
  3. Topic headings: Topic headings are generally the least useful type of heading because they are often generalized or vague. Try and be specific if using this type of heading.

Be sure to use the heading levels in sequential order. Screen readers use headings to help the reader navigate content. It is very important to ensure that heading levels are not skipped (e.g. do not skip from heading level 2 to heading level 4).

Lists

Create your headings so that they provide easily scannable information that readers can easily understand. There are three types of headings that can help with this:

  1. Question headings: If you know what questions your audience is asking you can use the question-and-answer format to help your audience scan the document and find specific information.
  2. Action headings: Guide the user to take an action or perform a specific task.
  3. Topic headings: Topic headings are generally the least useful type of heading because they are often generalized or vague. Try and be specific if using this type of heading.

Be sure to use the heading levels in sequential order. Screen readers use headings to help the reader navigate content. It is very important to ensure that heading levels are not skipped (e.g. do not skip from heading level 2 to heading level 4).

Use Guiding Language

Create your headings so that they provide easily scannable information that readers can easily understand. There are three types of headings that can help with this:

  1. Question headings: If you know what questions your audience is asking you can use the question-and-answer format to help your audience scan the document and find specific information.
  2. Action headings: Guide the user to take an action or perform a specific task.
  3. Topic headings: Topic headings are generally the least useful type of heading because they are often generalized or vague. Try and be specific if using this type of heading.

Be sure to use the heading levels in sequential order. Screen readers use headings to help the reader navigate content. It is very important to ensure that heading levels are not skipped (e.g. do not skip from heading level 2 to heading level 4).

Create a Conversation

Create your headings so that they provide easily scannable information that readers can easily understand. There are three types of headings that can help with this:

  1. Question headings: If you know what questions your audience is asking you can use the question-and-answer format to help your audience scan the document and find specific information.
  2. Action headings: Guide the user to take an action or perform a specific task.
  3. Topic headings: Topic headings are generally the least useful type of heading because they are often generalized or vague. Try and be specific if using this type of heading.

Be sure to use the heading levels in sequential order. Screen readers use headings to help the reader navigate content. It is very important to ensure that heading levels are not skipped (e.g. do not skip from heading level 2 to heading level 4).

Choose Words Carefully

Create your headings so that they provide easily scannable information that readers can easily understand. There are three types of headings that can help with this:

  1. Question headings: If you know what questions your audience is asking you can use the question-and-answer format to help your audience scan the document and find specific information.
  2. Action headings: Guide the user to take an action or perform a specific task.
  3. Topic headings: Topic headings are generally the least useful type of heading because they are often generalized or vague. Try and be specific if using this type of heading.

Be sure to use the heading levels in sequential order. Screen readers use headings to help the reader navigate content. It is very important to ensure that heading levels are not skipped (e.g. do not skip from heading level 2 to heading level 4).

Design for Reading

Create your headings so that they provide easily scannable information that readers can easily understand. There are three types of headings that can help with this:

  1. Question headings: If you know what questions your audience is asking you can use the question-and-answer format to help your audience scan the document and find specific information.
  2. Action headings: Guide the user to take an action or perform a specific task.
  3. Topic headings: Topic headings are generally the least useful type of heading because they are often generalized or vague. Try and be specific if using this type of heading.

Be sure to use the heading levels in sequential order. Screen readers use headings to help the reader navigate content. It is very important to ensure that heading levels are not skipped (e.g. do not skip from heading level 2 to heading level 4).

Test Your Assumptions

Create your headings so that they provide easily scannable information that readers can easily understand. There are three types of headings that can help with this:

  1. Question headings: If you know what questions your audience is asking you can use the question-and-answer format to help your audience scan the document and find specific information.
  2. Action headings: Guide the user to take an action or perform a specific task.
  3. Topic headings: Topic headings are generally the least useful type of heading because they are often generalized or vague. Try and be specific if using this type of heading.

Be sure to use the heading levels in sequential order. Screen readers use headings to help the reader navigate content. It is very important to ensure that heading levels are not skipped (e.g. do not skip from heading level 2 to heading level 4).

overview

Plain language is a way of writing so that more people can easily read and understand your content. Typically it is written at a 6th-8th grade reading level for the United States. It also helps with language translation; especially auto-translations like Google. 

It not only means changing terms to simpler ones, but it also means simplifying and organizing your content so that it prioritizes the meaning and any instructions for your audience. This web page discusses how you can use plain language to create more accessible communications. 

Testing Tools

  • Test with automated web accessibility toolbars to catch some of the errors. These will typically catch anywhere from 30-50% of the errors, sometimes more. Ensure you get “Errors” down to zero and review alerts as well.
  • Use a disability simulator that helps designers ensure that their content and applications are accessible and usable by the visually impaired. aDesigner is a tool that web authors can use to ensure that the webpages they create are accessible to individuals who are blind or visually impaired. aDesigner disability simulator
  • The Paciello Group offers resources for testing an inclusive design groups. The Paciello Group
  • JAWSInspect – This is a fee based checker to simplify testing for screenreader accessibility, without using a screen reader.

Mobile Accessibility

Assistive Technology

Testing web sites and applications using assistive technologies offers you a lot of benefits. You get to learn some of the tools that people with disabilities use to navigate technology, which is incredibly informative. You also get better insight into the true, functional accessibility of the site or application.

Visit our  Users & Technology page to learn more about assistive technology. 

Want a demonstration of what IS and is NOT an accessible web page?

Here are websites that show the differences, both in presentation and in structure, between accessible and inaccessible web pages. Use these to practice your website accessibility testing and experiment with different AT devices.

  • Accessible University
  • W3C

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