Plain language

Plain language is writing designed to communicate information clearly and efficiently to its intended audience. It prioritizes understandable wording, useful organization, and direct expression.

Readability: The ease with which a text can be read and understood. Plain language aims to make meaning accessible without confusing ease of reading with quality.
Plain Writing Act of 2010: A United States federal law requiring clear communication in covered government documents. It made plain writing a statutory requirement for much federal public communication.
Document design: The arrangement of text and visual elements to support a document’s use. Headings, spacing, and layout help people locate and understand information.
Health communication: The study and practice of communicating information about health to individuals and communities. Plain wording can reduce misunderstandings in messages about care and prevention.
Readability formula: A quantitative method that estimates text difficulty using features such as sentence or word length. Scores offer proxies for difficulty but cannot establish whether information is useful or accurate.
Audience analysis: The study of an audience’s needs, knowledge, goals, and circumstances. Plain language choices depend on what the intended audience already knows and needs to do.
Health literacy: The ability to find, understand, and use information to make health-related decisions. Clear health communication helps people act on medical information and instructions.
Plain language guidelines: Recommendations for organizing and wording information so its intended audience can understand and use it. Guidelines translate the goal of plain language into practical drafting choices.
Digital divide: Unequal access to, use of, or benefits from information and communication technologies. Clear content can reduce some barriers but cannot by itself resolve unequal access.
Simplified English: A reduced form of English vocabulary and grammar designed for restricted communication needs. Plain language adapts to an audience without necessarily limiting vocabulary to a controlled list.

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