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edited by Lizzie Bruce
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edited by Lizzie Bruce
on 2019/06/10 13:23
Change comment: added matthew williams ebook on legislative lang and politics free preview

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Title
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1 -Plain language for health, finances and law
1 +Legal, medical and financial terms
Content
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6 6  * **people in a hurry** – simply written content is quicker to scan
7 7  * **people who are stressed** – if you're anxious it's difficult to understand complex text
8 8  * **people who are multi-tasking** – when distracted complex text is harder to comprehend
9 -* **cognitive impairments** – easy to understand words involve less cognitive load
9 +* **people with low literacy** – will not know meanings of complex vocabulary and terms
10 +* **cognitive impairments** – words that are easy to understand involve less cognitive load
10 10  * **visual impairments** – short, simple sentences convey meaning in a smaller visual field
11 11  * **motor impairments** – it takes less physical effort to navigate shorter content
12 12  )))
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88 88  
89 89  === {{id name="#m2"/}} 4. Explain medical terms. ===
90 90  
91 -Medical terms are unlikely to be understood by your readers. It similar to assuming they would know a word in a foreign language. Follow the word or phrase with a plain English explanation.
92 +Medical terms are unlikely to be understood by your readers. It's similar to assuming they would know a word in a foreign language. Follow the word or phrase with a plain English explanation.
92 92  
93 93  
94 94  === {{id name="#mo1"/}}5. Use clear language for financial information. ===
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110 110  
111 111  ----
112 112  
113 -=== {{id name="#UEL"/}}Usability evidence ===
114 +== {{id name="#UEL"/}}Usability evidence ==
114 114  
115 -(% class="wikigeneratedid" %)
116 -==== Legal ====
117 117  
118 -[['Joseph Kimble—No, the law does not (normally) require legalese'>>url:http://www.ivacheung.com/2015/07/joseph-kimble-no-the-law-does-not-normally-require-legalese-editing-goes-global-2015/]] Editing Goes Global, 2015. Professor Joseph Kimble discusses the "psuedo-precision of legalese".
117 +[['Writing content for everyone'>>path:/xwiki/bin/get/Plain%20English/Plain%20English%2C%20simple%20sentences/?sheet=CKEditor.ResourceDispatcher&outputSyntax=plain&language=en&type=doc&reference=https%3A%2F%2Fgds.blog.gov.uk%2F2016%2F02%2F23%2Fwriting-content-for-everyone%2F]], R. Strachan, UK Government Digital Service blog, 2016
119 119  
120 -[[Plain language: the underlying research>>url:https://www.victorialawfoundation.org.au/sites/default/files/resources/Schriver_Karen%20Clarity2012.pdf]], Karen Schriver slide presentation, pages 29 to 35.
119 +=== Health specific ===
121 121  
122 -[[The public speaks: an empirical study of legal communication>>url:http://works.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=christopher_trudeau]], study by Christopher Trudeau (@proftrudeau on Twitter) containing case studies from solicitors about using legal language.
121 +(% class="wikigeneratedid" id="H" %)
122 +[['Department of Health Stakeholder Report: 2012'>>https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/department-of-health-stakeholder-report-2012]], research by Ipsos MORI, 2012
123 123  
124 -[[Richmond vs HRA>>url:http://www.alltrials.net/news/judgment-in-richmond-v-hra-judicial-review/]] A pharmaceutical company called Richmond took the Health Regulatory Authority to court because the website was confusing. A high court judge deemed the site 'unlawful' and ruled against the government. The site was cleared through a legal department. This set a precedent in the UK. You could still be sued even with all the legal language is there, if the information is not clear.
124 +(% class="wikigeneratedid" %)
125 +[['Connecting with audiences. An evidence-based language sourcebook'>>http://www.linguisticlandscapes.co.uk/pdf/DH%20Language%20Guidelines%20230710%20FINAL_for%20website_240114.pdf]], Department of Health and Linguistic Landscapes, 2010, 2014
125 125  
126 -[[Plain English Campaign>>url:http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/campaigning/past-campaigns/legal/drafting-in-plain-english.html]] believes legalese is unnecessary and does not do what it was intended to. "The argument that clarity should be sacrificed for a document to be comprehensive does not stand up."
127 -
128 -====
129 -Medical ====
130 -
131 131  [[Guide to medical information>>http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/files/medicalguide.pdf]] from Plain English Campaign.
132 132  
133 133  [[Guidance on writing letters to outpatients>>http://www.aomrc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Please_write_to_me_Guidance_010918.pdf]] from Academy of Medical Royal Colleges.
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134 134  
135 135  [['Clarity is king – the evidence that reveals the desperate need to re-think the way we write'>>https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2014/02/17/guest-post-clarity-is-king-the-evidence-that-reveals-the-desperate-need-to-re-think-the-way-we-write/]] GDS blog, Mark Morris, 2014
136 136  
137 -[['Connecting with audiences: An evidence-based language sourcebook for the Department of Health'>>http://www.linguisticlandscapes.co.uk/pdf/DH%20Language%20Guidelines%20230710%20FINAL_for%20website_240114.pdf]] Linguistic Landscapes, July 2010
133 +[[NHS content style guide beta>>https://beta.nhs.uk/service-manual/content/how-we-write]], January 2019
138 138  
139 -[[NHS content style guide beta>>https://beta.nhs.uk/service-manual/content/how-we-write]], January 2019 
135 +
136 +=== Legal specific ===
137 +
138 +[['Joseph Kimble—No, the law does not (normally) require legalese'>>url:http://www.ivacheung.com/2015/07/joseph-kimble-no-the-law-does-not-normally-require-legalese-editing-goes-global-2015/]] Editing Goes Global, 2015. Professor Joseph Kimble discusses the "psuedo-precision of legalese".
139 +
140 +[[Plain language: the underlying research>>url:https://www.victorialawfoundation.org.au/sites/default/files/resources/Schriver_Karen%20Clarity2012.pdf]], Karen Schriver slide presentation, pages 29 to 35.
141 +
142 +[['The public speaks: an empirical study of legal communication'>>https://works.bepress.com/christopher_trudeau/4/]], Christopher Trudeau, study includes solicitor case studies, 2017
143 +
144 +[['Legislative language and judicial politics: The effects of changing parliamentary language on UK immigration disputes'>>https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1369148117705272]], Williams, M., 2017. Locked. Related eBook, preview chapter 1: [['How language works in politics: The impact of vague legislation on policy'>>https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=7FtoDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT412&lpg=PT412&dq=%27Legislative+language+and+judicial+politics:+The+effects+of+changing+parliamentary+language+on+UK+immigration+disputes%27&source=bl&ots=l1BDOgSCaL&sig=ACfU3U24809ZF9GVO2UJUExzz6B6h32Iqw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjkjtWA79XiAhUSTxUIHV3aBPYQ6AEwB3oECAkQAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false]], Williams, M., 2018
145 +
146 +[['How Parliament’s failure to clearly articulate immigration policy forces judges to take control'>>https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/parliamentary-language-and-immigration/]], Matthew Williams 'Legislative language and judicial politics' 2017 summarised in London School of Economics blog post
147 +
148 +[['I fought the law and the users won: delivering online voter registration'>>https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2014/06/20/i-fought-the-law-and-the-users-won-delivering-online-voter-registration/]], Peter Herlihy, UK Government Digital Service blog, 2014
149 +
150 +[[Richmond vs HRA>>url:http://www.alltrials.net/news/judgment-in-richmond-v-hra-judicial-review/]] Richmond pharmaceutical company took the Health Regulatory Authority to court because the website was confusing. A high court judge decided the site was 'unlawful' and ruled against the government. The site was cleared through a legal department. This set a precedent in the UK. You can still be sued even with all the legal language there, if the information is not clear.
151 +
152 +[[Plain English Campaign>>url:http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/campaigning/past-campaigns/legal/drafting-in-plain-english.html]] believes legalese is unnecessary and does not do what it was intended to. "The argument that clarity should be sacrificed for a document to be comprehensive does not stand up."
140 140  
141 141  
142 -==== Finance ====
155 +=== Finance specific ===
143 143  
144 144  [[A to Z of financial terms (PDF 87KB)>>http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/files/financialguide.pdf]] from Plain English Campaign.
145 145  
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151 151  See also:
152 152  
153 153  * [[Plain English>>doc:Plain English.Plain English, simple sentences.WebHome]]
154 -* [[Simple sentences>>url:https://readabilityguidelines.myxwiki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Plain%20English/Simple%20sentences/]]
155 -* [[Specialist terms>>url:https://readabilityguidelines.myxwiki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Plain%20English/Plain%20English%2C%20simple%20sentences/#st]]
156 -* [[Words to avoid>>url:https://readabilityguidelines.myxwiki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Plain%20English/Words%20to%20avoid/]]
167 +* [[Simple sentences>>doc:Plain English.Simple sentences.WebHome]]
168 +* [[Specialist terms>>doc:Plain English.Specialist terms.WebHome]]
169 +* [[Words to avoid>>doc:Plain English.Words to avoid.WebHome]]
157 157  )))