Want reader-friendly content? Use the Standard!
Anne-Marie Chisnall | November 22, 2017
Not just any standard — we’re referring to the Write Plain Language Standard of course! We decided it’s too good not to share with the world. So the Write Plain Language Standard is now available on our website as a free download.
It’s your lucky day — the Write Plain Language Standard is now free to download. Image by Amy Reed / Unsplash licence
Use the Write Plain Language Standard to make your content work for readers
The Write Plain Language Standard is a set of 10 statements that describe the main features of a clear, reader-friendly document. You can use the Standard to quickly assess any document.
If your document achieves 10 ticks against the Standard, chances are it’ll achieve your intended purpose and work well for your readers. The Standard works alongside other best-practice approaches for achieving clear communication, including testing with real users.
How to use the Standard
Here are some ideas for getting the most out of the Standard so you see a difference in your communications right away.
- Use the Standard as a checklist to quickly assess any written content.
- Adapt the Standard to your own context or add hints — for example, next to ‘The sentences are short and straightforward’, you could add ‘aim for an average sentence length of 15–20 words’.
- Best idea of all — adopt the Standard as company policy for all print and web documents. For a how-to primer, see Rewrite: How to overcome daily sabotage of your brand and profit by Lynda Harris.
The Write Plain Language Standard carries a Creative Commons licence — you’ll find all the details in the Standard document.