Skip to Content
Last modified by Lizzie Bruce on 2020/01/11 23:49
From version Icon 5.1
edited by Lizzie Bruce
on 2020/01/11 23:49
Change comment: on page redirect
To version Icon 1.21 Icon
edited by Lizzie Bruce
on 2019/03/07 16:49
Change comment: There is no comment for this version

Summary

Details

Icon Page properties
Title
... ... @@ -1,1 +1,1 @@
1 -Legal, medical and financial terms
1 +Law, medicine and money
Content
... ... @@ -1,1 +1,92 @@
1 -Please go to [[readabilityguidelines.co.uk/clear-language/legal-medical-and-financial-terms>>url:https://readabilityguidelines.co.uk/clear-language/legal-medical-and-financial-terms/]].
1 +(% class="wikigeneratedid" %)
2 +The legal, medical and financial professions are known for using complex terminology. But it's not necessary and confuses people who use their services.
3 +
4 +
5 +[[Law>>doc:||anchor="l"]]
6 +
7 +[[Medicine>>doc:||anchor="m"]]
8 +
9 +[[Money>>doc:||anchor="mo"]]
10 +
11 +
12 +== {{id name="l"/}}Law ==
13 +
14 +Judges need to decide what legal writers intended their writing to mean. They have evolved a set of tools for this analysis: Statutory Interpretation.
15 +
16 +Writing in plain English can make meaning clear, so that judges don’t have to rely on sometimes contradictory interpretations.
17 +
18 +If information on your website is unclear your organisation could be taken to court and lose, even if the content was approved by a legal department.
19 +
20 +
21 +=== 1. Explain the law simply, in context. ===
22 +
23 +When you refer to a law, or part of it, explain what the law is about right there at the point of user need. Do not only refer to it in a reference section or appendix.
24 +
25 +>Example:
26 +> "We collect personal information on this form under section 26 the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, because it concerns our programs and activities (c), and it is necessary for planning and evaluating our programs and activities(e)."
27 +> This content is positioned at the top of a form, not hidden away in references section.
28 +
29 +>Example:
30 +>
31 +>"Direct sales contract — exemptions from application of the Act" [Subheading]"
32 +>
33 +>5 (1) This section describes direct sellers that are, and circumstances in which direct sellers are, exempt from the application of sections 19 to 22 (required contents, direct sales contracts, direct sales contract — cancellation, credit agreement respecting direct sales contract) of the Act." [Body copy]
34 +
35 +== ==
36 +
37 +== Usability evidence for plain English in law ==
38 +
39 +[['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".
40 +
41 +[[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.
42 +
43 +[[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.
44 +
45 +[[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.
46 +
47 +[[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."
48 +
49 +
50 +
51 +== {{id name="m"/}}Medicine ==
52 +
53 +People need letters and reports about their health from doctors and consultants to be easy to understand. And they need online information to be comprehensible. 
54 +
55 +
56 +=== 1. Write clearly. ===
57 +
58 +Users of the information might be in shock or anxious, which reduces cognition.
59 +
60 +
61 +=== 2. Explain medical terms. ===
62 +
63 +Medical terms are likely not to be understood by your readers. It is likely assuming they would know a word in a foreign language. Follow the word or phrase with a plain English explanation.
64 +
65 +
66 +== Usability evidence for plain English in medicine ==
67 +
68 +[[Plain English Campaign – guide to medical information>>http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/files/medicalguide.pdf]]
69 +
70 +[[Academy of Medical Royal Colleges – Guidance on writing letters to outpatients>>http://www.aomrc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Please_write_to_me_Guidance_010918.pdf]]
71 +
72 +
73 +== {{id name="mo"/}}Money ==
74 +
75 +Many people do not understand their finances and it causes them problems. Complex terminology describing concept-heavy arrangements about a non-tangible resource makes things difficult for everybody.
76 +
77 +
78 +=== 1. Use clear language. ===
79 +
80 +=== ===
81 +
82 +=== 2. Explain terminology. ===
83 +
84 +=== ===
85 +
86 +=== 3. Give examples of conceptual arrangements. ===
87 +
88 +
89 +== Usability evidence for plain English in finance ==
90 +
91 +
92 +