Plain English
According to the International Plain Language Federation and ISO 24495-1:
A communication is in plain language if its wording, structure and design are so clear that the intended audience can easily find what they need, understand what they find and use that information.
So those are the elements we focus on in our plain English editing: wording, structure and design. It's something of an art getting them all to work in harmony and ensuring the audience really benefits.
Please click on the images below to see our sample edits.
What we do
1 Wording
Plain English is much more than just the words, but they're a great place to start. We simplify your vocab and sentence structures so your text is clear, active and readable.
If your content is legal or technical, we respect the terms that carry unique meanings. But we are tough on jargon and any words that are more complex than they need to be.
2 Structure
Moving beyond the words, we look at how your text is ordered and organised. We make sure the blocks of content build a structure that readers can easily find their way around.
This might mean you need a stronger summary or headings that better capture the text they represent. Whatever the issues, we have creative solutions for all document types.
3 Design
Our final step is to package up your text in an engaging and approachable format. We're not graphic designers but we know how to use layout to great effect.
So it's out with the underlined all-caps headings and the dense paragraphs that have no room to breathe. And it's in with clear fonts, helpful graphics and sensible spacing.
