by Nicole Watkins Campbell
​
Editing for Plainer Legal Writing Instructor

The best way to ensure your document meets readers’ needs is to test it with the audience. Even testing that is quick and cheap can give you useful information about how to improve your document.
 
What is a test?
A test can be as simple as asking a colleague or a citizen to answer one question about your text or as complicated as inviting 30 people to read your document and answer questions. Almost any test will help you make the writing better. And any test with a member of your audience will get you closer to writing that works for your readers.
 
When should you test?
Start testing as soon as you have enough material to test. Don’t wait until your document is complete unless it’s a short email.
 
Make corrections based on feedback, and test again, if you can. The best practice is to test a couple of times, and more if the text is important and could be difficult for your readers.
 
How should you test?

Several methods will help you improve your document.

• Paraphrase testing: In individual interviews, your testers read a short document and explain the concepts in their own words.
• Controlled comparison testing. You create and send out more than one version of your document, either simultaneously or over several mailouts, then compare the responses. You’ll get the clearest direction from your results if the versions differ in only one way, for example, a different opening sentence, or different paragraph structures, or using a numbered list to highlight a step-by-step process.
• Usability testing: In individual interviews, your testers read a more complex text while you watch, ask questions, and note whether they answered correctly and readily or struggled.

 
Record your results in some way:

• write down what you recall after a conversation about a document
• note which version of a letter generated the most or least phone calls or errors
• have someone take notes on the test subject’s answers or audio- or video-record the conversation

 
Who should you recruit?

• people in your target audience (your best opportunity)
• people familiar with your audience
• people who have nothing to do with your document
• people outside your organization
• people outside your skill set

 
Testing documents internally with co-workers while you’re still writing is highly useful. You can then test a final draft with someone from outside your team. Your co-workers will likely read about as well as you do and have the same technical understanding, so you will want other perspectives on the complexity of the language and the topic.
 
Don’t test with people who know the information in the document or people who helped you get to this point in creating this document. They will know too much about your subject area to notice what’s missing or out of place.
 
Readability measures

Your word processor or a website like Hemingway Editor will offer quick readability tests. But these long-established ways of describing how readable a text is actually don’t mean much. They were originally created to measure children’s reading skills, not documents for adults.
 
The software counts syllables (to represent complexity in language), words and paragraphs (to represent complexity in expression) to roughly estimate reading difficulty. The resulting number claims to reflect the number of years of education a person needs to read the text.
 
Readability measures fail in three main ways:

• It’s easy (and tempting) to game them, even unintentionally.
• They cannot distinguish between a meaningless text and a useful one.
• They cannot tell you if the structure and organization are useful or if information is missing.

 
If your text readability score from Microsoft Word or Hemingway Editor is gets a Grade 10 or higher, you probably need to edit for clarity: many people don’t read at this level. If you test again, you will be able to see if your changes made your sentences easier to read, but you should rely on other methods to make sure your text is clear.
 
Try setting up a simple test of a bit of writing this week. You will learn something surprising or pleasing. But you will learn something.

Nicole Watkins Campbell

​The Academy strives to be like plain language itself. 

• Efficient to navigate to find what you need
• Easy to understand what you find
• Effective to apply
• Exactly what can make messages clear

To register, simply follow these three steps:
1. go to plainlanguageacademy.moodlecloud.com, 
2. create your account
3. choose and register for your courses.
You will have access the day the course starts.
If you have any questions or issues, contact kate@plainlanguageacademy.com
 
Choose from our three Core courses on Basics, Audiences, and Writing and Editing.
Or, select an Advanced course suited to your current or upcoming needs. Topics include creating e-content, legal editing, health literacy, design, testing, science, and strategic planning. More are coming.

We are so excited about our new platform, we just want everyone else to share the experience.

Plain language knows no boundaries: so we are expanding ours to offer plain language courses in French, Spanish, and in South Africa. We want plain language to be everywhere because we know it is for everyone.

'New' is a key word for today's personal and work lives. The Plain Language Academies' team is creating more ways to share our skills and meet your growing needs for clear communication. Take advantage of current Core and Advanced courses at last year's fees. We encourage you to explore Advanced courses that tackle specific topics like clear health, legal, science, strategic planning, and online communication. New courses are coming. keep visiting us PlainLanguageAcademy.com for details and sign up for our newsletter.

We are looking forward to meeting you online, sharing skills, and learning about your interests.

Courses to take you forward
Our courses are designed to keep your clear communication skill development focused on the future. New fees are planned for future courses. Here are brief profiles of a few courses you can consider.
Clear Design Practices with Flora Gordon, (you can still sign up), explores the important role design plays in our communications and ways you can make design enhance your messages.
Plain Language 2.0 and Health Literacy, never been more important. Romina Marazzato Sparano shares her expertise. Available in English (now) and Spanish (soon). 
Everyone is online and we need to be clear and meet their needs. Kate Harrison Whiteside brings her years of plain language use online experience to you in Creating Clear E-content.
New: Implementing Plain Language as a Strategic Priority with Sarah Slabbert and Nadja Green, Plain Language Institute, South Africa. The focus of plain language is often on specific documents or pieces of communication. Implementing plain language in a systematic manner in an organization is a different challenge for executives, compliance officers, communication managers, or customer relations. This course will empower you to make your organization truly customer- or citizen-centred.

See Courses for current course registration links

The COVID-19 virus has caused global upheaval and uncertainty. Misinformation is widespread, and messaging changes as more is learned about the virus. For accurate and timely information, Canadians have been urged to consult the Government of Canada (GC) website, as well as provincial websites.1

The Canada.ca Content Style Guide requires the use of plain language for GC web content and notes, “Using plain language … makes critical information accessible and readable for everyone.”2 The reference to “everyone” is interesting because almost half of Canadians have “literacy challenges.”3

Web content assessment
As an editor and former ESL instructor, I wondered about the accessibility of the GC text. The sample I examined appears on a COVID-19 FAQ page, under “Preventing coronavirus.”4

We often think content design only applies to the text sections of our website. But, as our language becomes more visual and we, as scanners and writers, want a graphic to partner with text, clarity and readability become even more important.
 
Using Icons
Icons were developed to simplify communication, to create a clear graphic that tells the story without the need for words. But, they are still a form of communication, and understanding is required for them to be accessible and usable. They do work better and are more user-friendly when combined with text.
​
The UK's National Health Service (NHS) has done research on icons. Yes, icons can help people understand, navigate and discover, but not all icons are universal. Their user research generated these important results:

• the magnifying glass icon used to indicate search was not understood by all.
• the hamburger icon menu search graphic was replaced by the word Menu.
• boxes designed to hold important information were often ignored because visually they looked too much like popups or advertising.
• arrows and Do and Don't lists with checkmarks and Xs worked well.

Find out more by reading this article. 

Findings from Usertesting.com's ​Make Your Icons User-Friendly research are interesting. They found icon + text gets the best results.

"Our study results: labels vs. no labels
In our study, we found that for icons with labels, users were able to correctly predict what would happen when they tapped the icon 88% of the time.
For icons without labels, this number dropped to 60%.
And for unlabeled icons that are unique to the app, users correctly predicted what would happen when they tapped the icon only 34% of the time."

by Nicole Watkins Campbell, www.watkinscampbell.com

In the 2020s, more and more new information will be created and published online and in print.

We will see:

• new ideas 
• new ways of understanding the world, and 
• new language to describe it all—legal, technical, and business jargon.

People who want to keep up will need to read and learn even more. They will want information to act on, decide on, or just hold, and they will want to be able to get it quickly and easily, because they have many other things to do.

Making your information stand out

This information exists in many places online and in printed documents, some well-written and others less so.

Good writing serves readers well if it:

• gives them what they need, not more
• flows logically 
• uses language they use, and
• explains the few new terms.

The writer's role in clear communication

What do you, the writer or editor, know about what your readers need? Where are they when they read your document? Do they need to read twice to understand it and take action?

As a writer or editor of legal information, you can help your readers by learning more about them and then making your writing as clear as possible.

Learn about legal editing for clarity

My Academy course, Editing for Plainer Legal Writing, will help you make your writing more useful and more interesting. And, that will actually make you more trustworthy and likeable. This study of complex language explains how.

This course will guide you on how to edit information about the law—about people’s rights and responsibilities—to meet your clients' needs. You will learn to make these types of documents or content clearer for your readers, even if you are not a lawyer. In fact, the course is aimed at non-legal communicators who are tasked with presenting legal information.

Join me February 10, 2020 for Editing for Plainer Legal Writing. Reserve your place now.

You will sharpen your skills and win client appreciation. 

​

​
By Romina Marazzato Sparano, LanguageCompass.com

Health literacy is defined as the ability to find, understand, and process information to make healthcare decisions. This definition is currently under review. The concern is that success in health communication does not only hinge upon an individual’s ability, but also on the accessibility, clarity, and actionability of health information and services offered.

New course Plain Language 2.0 and Health Literacy is coming March 2020. Find out more.

A wider understanding of health literacy sees it as a multidimensional construct that enables successful health communication. Health literacy is, then, the set of world and health knowledge, general intelligence and literacy, and social and communication skills that allow an individual to seek, obtain, understand, assess, and apply health information in daily life and health care contexts. This ability is mediated by: 
​

• the individual’s culture and beliefs, including education and language;
• the knowledge, intelligence, literacy, communication skills, culture, and beliefs of health care and health information providers;
• the demands and complexities of the healthcare system
• the use of plain language in communication. 

Health communication includes patients, providers, and caregivers, and often takes place in distressing or time-sensitive situations. Plain language has a vital role to play in aligning audiences, providers, and situations to produce better health outcomes. Health care and health information providers have a responsibility to provide information in plain language, that is, in clear and accessible language. 

This responsibility is also now promoted and even required through laws and regulations that “see” the benefits of plain language. One such regulation is the European Union Clinical Trials Regulation (EU CTR 536/2014) which includes a requirement for the submission of lay summaries to promote trust, partnership, and patient engagement. Another example: US hospitals now face financial penalties for high readmission rates, so they are turning to plain language in an effort to reduce re-hospitalization due to poor communication.

In the new March 2020 Academy Advanced course, Plain Language 2.0 and Health Literacy,  we will explore health literacy and how it can be improved. Considering text production in the wider context of health communication, we will focus on plain language strategies for clarity and accessibility. We will distinguish between strategies for textuality and strategies for adequacy. Textuality refers to how grammar, cohesion, and coherence create meaning in technical and lay texts. Adequacy refers to how register, style, and design inform the suitability of the text for the purpose and audience at hand.

Looking forward to working with you.
​Romina.

Plain language offers benefits to writers, readers and organizations. With time and cost savings available for staff and happier clients, it makes sense to integrate it. We have great demands on our time, our minds and our budgets. Plain language is a great problem solver. Put plain language on your calendar for a clearer year ahead.

What problems can plain language solve?
If your clients, staff or volunteers aren't understanding your messages, then you have to spend time repeating instructions, clarifying procedures and answering questions. All these are unnecessary, if your original message meets these plain language guidelines:
1. is easy to understand
2. can be quickly navigated to find what is wanted
3. is clear so it can be effectively acted on.
​Ask these of all your communications and see where you stand. Ask your readers for feedback. ​

Why integrate plain language?

​There are so many benefits to plain language.​

Plain language is a simple process that when integrated into your writing tasks brings these benefits:
1. 50% less time spent writing
2. 40-60% less time spent reviewing
3. 50% fewer drafts needed
When you compare that to the reduced costs associated with producing information, it speaks savings. Check out our first blog of the year "Integrating clear visuals" for a closer look at how to be creative and clear at the same time.

How do I spread the word?

Plain language is a process and is best achieved with a team. You need to persuade or have a trainer or consultant sell your management team on the benefits of plain language. When the organization is ready to make the commitment, then consider a pilot project. Bringing in a trainer is helpful in developing staff skills and knowledge. It's also a great team builder. Integrate plain language practices into your style guide. ​

Plain language is for everyone: management, staff and clients. It works for internal and external messages. Research shows no one likes to or wants to have to read information they can't easily understand. Take the lead. Choose this year to introduce, expand or celebrate your plain language program.

​

Many organizations are making the commitment to plain language. This means all
staff need the tools to make it happen. One route to success is to integrate plain
language guidelines into your existing style guide or build an organizational style
guide around one. Supporting this with training ensures staff have the skills and
knowledge to put it into practice.

Plain language is a communication process that covers:

• basic guidelines on communicating clearly
• recommendations for audience empathy
• writing and editing techniques that focus on accessibility, understandability and usability
• design guidelines to support all of the above
• testing and evaluating to ensure audience needs are met.

These foundations are integrated into style guides ensuring plain language is an integral part of your communication style.

​I have found supporting plain language style guide integration with training sessions is a great staff-strengthening and team building investment.