Changes for page Simple sentences
Last modified by Lizzie Bruce on 2020/01/11 23:51
From version 
2.25 
2.25
edited by Lizzie Bruce
on 2019/03/08 16:59
on 2019/03/08 16:59
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To version 2.6
2.6
edited by Lizzie Bruce
on 2019/03/07 11:13
on 2019/03/07 11:13
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... ... @@ -1,36 +1,6 @@ 1 1 (% class="wikigeneratedid" %) 2 - Thishelps:2 +Plain English 3 3 4 -* **people in a hurry** – simply written content is easier to scan and absorb instantly 5 -* **people who are stressed** – if you're anxious you find it harder to comprehend things 6 -* **people who are multi-tasking** – if you're holding a baby or a running business your attention's divided 7 -* **cognitive impairments** – easy to understand words and sentences carry less cognitive load 8 -* **visual impairments** – short and simple sentences convey meaning in a smaller visual field 9 -* **motor impairments** – it's less tiring when you can understand what you read quickly 10 - 11 - 12 -== == 13 - 14 -== Guidelines == 15 - 16 -[[Plain English>>Plain English||anchor="pe"]] 17 - 18 -[[Simple sentences>>||anchor="ssl"]] 19 - 20 -[[Specialist terms>>||anchor="st"]] 21 - 22 -[[Law, medicine, money>>doc:.Medical.WebHome]] 23 - 24 -(% class="wikigeneratedid" %) 25 -[[Words to avoid>>doc:.Words to avoid.WebHome]] 26 - 27 - 28 ----- 29 - 30 -== == 31 - 32 -== {{id name="pe"/}}Plain English == 33 - 34 34 Make content clear and understandable, to open the web up for users with different literacy levels and access challenges. 35 35 36 36 WCAG states that "using the clearest and simplest language appropriate is highly desirable." ... ... @@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ 65 65 What is 'plain' for one person may not be for someone else. 66 66 67 67 68 -== Usability evidence :plain English==38 +== Usability evidence == 69 69 70 70 [[Guideline 3.1 Readable: Make text content readable and understandable.>>url:https://www.w3.org/TR/UNDERSTANDING-WCAG20/meaning-supplements.html]], Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, 2008. 71 71 ... ... @@ -83,144 +83,33 @@ 83 83 84 84 [[Plain language entry>>url:https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plain_language]], Wikipedia, last updated 2018 85 85 56 +== Usability evidence == 86 86 87 --- --58 +[[Guideline 3.1 Readable: Make text content readable and understandable.>>url:https://www.w3.org/TR/UNDERSTANDING-WCAG20/meaning-supplements.html]], Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, 2008. 88 88 89 - ====60 +[['Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities'>>url:http://templatelab.com/convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities/]], page 4 Article 2, Definitions, The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 2018. 90 90 91 - == {{idname="ssl"/}}Simpleentences==62 +[['Plain Language Is for Everyone, Even Experts'>>url:https://www.nngroup.com/articles/plain-language-experts/]], H. Loranger, Nielsen Norman Group, 2017 92 92 93 - ===1.Makeyouraveragesentencewordslong.===64 +[['The Public Speaks: An Empirical Study of Legal Communication'>>url:https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1843415]], C. R. Trudeau in 14 Scribes J. Leg. Writing 121 2012 94 94 95 - Themaximum sentencelength foraood levelof comprehensionis 25 words.Split long sentencesupinto2 or 3, orusebulletpoints.66 +[['Strengthening plain language'>>url:http://www.iplfederation.org/]], International Plain Language Federation. Undated. 96 96 97 - OxfordGuidetoplainEnglish, GOV.UKandlinguistsagree 15 wordsentencesare fine butabove40 wordsishard tounderstand.68 +[[Plain Language Commission style guide>>url:https://www.clearest.co.uk/plain-language-commission-style-guide]], Plain Language Commission, 2011 98 98 70 +[['The principles of readability'>>url:http://www.impact-information.com/impactinfo/readability02.pdf]], Impact Information, William H. DuBay, 2004 99 99 100 - === 2. Avoidcomplexsentence structures.===72 +[[Plain language entry>>url:https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plain_language]], Wikipedia, last updated 2018 101 101 102 -They are less easy to comprehend quickly. Understanding them requires more cognitive effort than simple sentences. 103 - 74 +== Short sentence length == 104 104 105 -Complexity depends on: 106 106 107 -* number of clauses in a sentence, the more clauses the more complex it is 108 -* distribution of associated words across the sentence – how easily can the brain 'parse a phrase': recognise, connect and comprehend words that together convey meaning 109 - 110 110 111 ->Example:"The red fox jumped over the gate." – easier to understand 112 ->"The fox, which was red, over the gate jumped." – harder to understand 78 +== Simple sentence structure == 113 113 114 114 115 -== Usability evidence: simple sentences == 116 116 117 - Oxford Guideto plainEnglish82 +{{children/}} 118 118 119 -Jyoti Sanyal 'Indlish' 120 120 121 -Author Ann Wylie 122 - 123 -[[Writing for GOV.UK>>url:https://www.gov.uk/guidance/content-design/writing-for-gov-uk]], UK Government website 124 - 125 -[['Sentence length: why 25 words is our limit'>>url:https://insidegovuk.blog.gov.uk/2014/08/04/sentence-length-why-25-words-is-our-limit/]], Inside GOV.UK, UK Government blog, 2014 126 - 127 -[['Content design'>>url:https://contentdesign.london/book/]], Sarah Richards, 2017 128 - 129 -[['The role of word difficulty and sentence length in text comprehension'>>url:https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a114935.pdf]], T. M. Duffy and P. K. U'Ren, 1982 130 - 131 -[['The Influence of Semantics and Syntax on What Readers Remember'>>url:https://www.hcde.washington.edu/files/people/docs/Isakson_Spyridakis_Sem_Syn.pdf]], C. S. Isakson and J. H. Spyridakis, 1999 132 - 133 -[['How the brain attunes to sentence processing: Relating behavior, structure, and function'>>url:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4819595/]], A. Fengler, L. Meyer, A. D. Friederici, National Center for Biotechnology Information 134 - 135 -[['Functional Analysis of Clause Complex in the Language of News Websites Texts: A Comparative Study of Two Articles'>>url:http://www.ijsrp.org/research-paper-0616/ijsrp-p5445.pdf]], F. M. S. Eid, International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, Volume 6, Issue 6, June 2016 136 - 137 -[[Reading Level>>url:https://www.w3.org/TR/UNDERSTANDING-WCAG20/meaning-supplements.html]], Understanding SC 3.1.5, WCAG, 2008 138 - 139 -[['Readability Assessment of Internet-Based Consumer Health Information'>>url:http://rc.rcjournal.com/content/53/10/1310/tab-pdf]], T. M. Walsh and T. A. Volsko in Respiratory Care October 2008, 53 (10) 1310-1315 140 - 141 -[['The research basis of plain language techniques: Implications for establishing standards'>>url:https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Karen_Schriver/publication/285927928_The_research_basis_of_plain_language_techniques_Implications_for_establishing_standards/links/5664c50208ae192bbf90aa85/The-research-basis-of-plain-language-techniques-Implications-for-establishing-standards.pdf]], Karen Schriver, PhD, Dr. A. L. Cheek, M. Mercer, Center for Plain Language, November 20, 2008, Mexico City 142 - 143 -[['Readability Levels of Health-Based Websites: From Content to Comprehension'>>url:https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ851863.pdf]], M. Schutten, A. McFarland, PhD, International Electronic Journal of Health Education, 2009, 12:99-107 144 - 145 -[['Writing smaller'>>url:http://clarity-international.net/journals/63.pdf]], Clarity Journal no. 63, 2010 146 - 147 -[[Plain Language Commission style guide>>url:https://irp-cdn.multiscreensite.com/aaf9e928/files/uploaded/PLCstyleguide25July2012.pdf]], 2012 148 - 149 -[['Shorter Lines Facilitate Reading in Those Who Struggle'>>url:https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0071161]], Matthew H. Schneps , Jenny M. Thomson, Gerhard Sonnert, Marc Pomplun, Chen Chen, Amanda Heffner-Wong, 2013 150 - 151 -[['Towards a better measure of readability: Explanation of empirical performance results'>>url:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00437956.1989.11435805]], Leslie A. Olsen & Rod Johnson, Taylor & Francis Group, 2015 152 - 153 -[['What is plain language?'>>url:https://plainlanguagenetwork.org/plain-language/what-is-plain-language/]], Plain Language Association International, 2015 154 - 155 -[[Text complexity, ATOS, and Lexile® Measures>>url:https://www.renaissance.com/products/practice/accelerated-reader-360/atos-and-text-complexity/]], Renaissance Learning, 2016 156 - 157 -[['Understanding Plain English summaries. A comparison of two approaches to improve the quality of Plain English summaries in research reports.'>>url:https://researchinvolvement.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40900-017-0064-0]] 2017 158 - 159 -[['How to use Yoast SEO: The readability analysis?'>>url:https://yoast.com/yoast-seo-readability-analysis/]] Edwin Toonen, Yoast, 2018 160 - 161 -[[The Crystal Mark standard>>url:http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/services/crystal-mark/7-the-crystal-mark-standard.html]] Plain English Campaign, undated 162 - 163 - 164 ----- 165 - 166 -== == 167 - 168 -== {{id name="st"/}}Specialist terms == 169 - 170 -(% class="wikigeneratedid" %) 171 -Make specialist content comprehensible by non-experts. 172 - 173 - 174 -=== 1. Explain specialist terms: anybody can access your content. === 175 - 176 -Assuming who your audience is, and that they'll understand the technical terms you use, are common misconceptions. 177 - 178 - 179 -=== 2. Create content that all users can understand, whatever their expertise or background. === 180 - 181 -When you present a concept explain its parts and processes in detail. 182 - 183 -If you need to include a technical term consider explaining it. Make sure the surrounding language in plain language. 184 - 185 - 186 -=== 3. Help users understand specialist terms. === 187 - 188 -You could: 189 - 190 -* link to an existing definition – this could be an external site 191 -* add a explanatory definition after using the term 192 192 193 - 194 ->Example: 195 -> 196 ->"It is a Palladian style stone building, and contains a number of splendid paintings and much fine wood-carving." – original sentence (source [[yourdictionary.com>>url:http://sentence.yourdictionary.com/palladian]]). 197 -> 198 ->"It is a [[Palladian style>>url:http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/s/style-guide-palladianism/]] stone building, and contains a number of splendid paintings and much fine wood-carving." – with link to a definition. 199 -> 200 -> "It is a Palladian style stone building and contains a number of splendid paintings and much fine wood-carving. Palladian style architecture features include columns, symmetry and decorative arches." – with explanatory definition. 201 - 202 - 203 -== Usability evidence: specialist terms == 204 - 205 -[['Writing Digital Copy for Domain Experts'>>url:https://www.nngroup.com/articles/writing-domain-experts/]], Nielson Norman Group, 2017 206 - 207 -[['Writing Digital Copy for Specialists vs. General Audiences'>>url:https://www.nngroup.com/videos/writing-digital-copy-specialists/?lm=how-users-read-on-the-web&pt=article]], Nielson Norman Group, undated 208 - 209 -[['Plain Language For Everyone, Even Experts'>>url:https://www.nngroup.com/videos/plain-language-for-experts/?lm=how-users-read-on-the-web&pt=article]] Nielson Norman Group, undated 210 - 211 -[['TechWhirl Fast 5: Understanding Plain Language and Simplified Technical English'>>url:https://techwhirl.com/techwhirl-fast-5-understanding-plain-language-simplified-technical-english/]], Connie Giordano, TechWhirl, 2017 212 - 213 -[['Advantages and disadvantages with Simplified Technical English'>>url:https://liu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:16816/FULLTEXT01]], Msc thesis paper, Karin Disborg, 2007 214 - 215 -[['Technical Writing Need Not Be Abstruse—Use Plain Language for Maximum Impact'>>url:https://digital.gov/2015/10/23/technical-writing-need-not-be-abstruse-use-plain-language-for-maximum-impact/#]], Colleen Blessing, 2015 216 - 217 -[['The Facets of the General Public as Audience'>>url:https://www.dropbox.com/s/2u2cybl7c57u0tr/AudienceIssues.pdf?dl=0]] Cheryl Stephens and Mariah Stufflebeam, 2017 218 - 219 - 220 ----- 221 - 222 -(% class="wikigeneratedid" %) 223 -Here's some sector specific guidance for [[medicine, money and law>>doc:.Medical.WebHome]]. 224 - 225 - 226 -And here's our list of jargon [[words to avoid>>doc:.Words to avoid.WebHome]]!