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Changes for page Simple sentences

Last modified by Lizzie Bruce on 2020/01/11 23:51
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edited by Lizzie Bruce
on 2020/01/11 23:51
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To version Icon 2.14 Icon
edited by Lizzie Bruce
on 2019/03/07 11:55
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Title
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1 -Simple sentences
1 +Clear language
Parent
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1 -Plain English.WebHome
1 +Main.WebHome
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1 -Please go to [[readabilityguidelines.co.uk/clear-language/simple-sentences>>url:https://readabilityguidelines.co.uk/clear-language/simple-sentences/]].
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2 +This helps:
3 +
4 +* **people in a hurry** – simply written content is easier to scan and absorb instantly
5 +* **cognitive impairments** – easy to understand words and sentences need less cognition
6 +* **visual impairments** – short and simple sentences convey meaning in a smaller field of focus
7 +* **motor impairments** – it's less tiring when you can understand what you read quickly
8 +
9 +
10 +
11 +== Guidelines ==
12 +
13 +[[Plain English>>Plain English||anchor="pe"]]
14 +
15 +[[Sentence length>> ||anchor="ssl"]]
16 +
17 +Sentence structure
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19 +Specialist terms
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22 +Words to avoid
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24 +
25 +== {{id name="pe"/}}Plain English ==
26 +
27 +Make content clear and understandable, to open the web up for users with different literacy levels and access challenges.
28 +
29 +WCAG states that "using the clearest and simplest language appropriate is highly desirable."
30 +
31 +The United Nations recommends plain language for communications.
32 +
33 +
34 +=== 1. Choose easy and short words not formal, long ones. ===
35 +
36 +Use ‘buy’ instead of ‘purchase’, ‘help’ instead of ‘assist’, and ‘about’ instead of ‘approximately’.
37 +
38 +Write for the reading comprehension of a 9 year old. This helps you reach the most users and makes your content easy to scan.
39 +
40 +
41 +=== 2. Jargon and buzzwords are unlikely to be clear language. ===
42 +
43 +Often, these words are too general and vague and can lead to misinterpretation or empty, meaningless text. Avoid them. Instead, think about what the term actually means and describe that. Be open and specific.
44 +
45 +
46 +Example:
47 +"Let's touch base in 10 and do some blue sky thinking." This uses jargon.
48 +"Let's meet in 10 minutes to think of some ideas." Conveys same meaning using clear language.
49 +
50 +
51 +=== 3. Write conversationally. ===
52 +
53 +Picture your audience and write as if you were talking directly to them, with the authority of someone who can help and inform.
54 +
55 +
56 +=== 4. Test your content with users ===
57 +
58 +What is 'plain' for one person may not be for someone else.
59 +
60 +
61 +== Usability evidence for plain English ==
62 +
63 +[[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.
64 +
65 +[['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.
66 +
67 +[['Plain Language Is for Everyone, Even Experts'>>url:https://www.nngroup.com/articles/plain-language-experts/]], H. Loranger, Nielsen Norman Group, 2017
68 +
69 +[['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
70 +
71 +[['Strengthening plain language'>>url:http://www.iplfederation.org/]], International Plain Language Federation. Undated.
72 +
73 +[[Plain Language Commission style guide>>url:https://www.clearest.co.uk/plain-language-commission-style-guide]], Plain Language Commission, 2011
74 +
75 +[['The principles of readability'>>url:http://www.impact-information.com/impactinfo/readability02.pdf]], Impact Information, William H. DuBay, 2004
76 +
77 +[[Plain language entry>>url:https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plain_language]], Wikipedia, last updated 2018
78 +
79 +
80 +== {{id name="ssl"/}}Short sentence length ==
81 +
82 +
83 +
84 +== Simple sentence structure ==
85 +
86 +
87 +(% class="wikigeneratedid" %)
88 +Here's some sector specific guidance:
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90 +(% class="wikigeneratedid" %)
91 +Legal
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94 +Medical
95 +
96 +(% class="wikigeneratedid" %)
97 +Financial
98 +
99 +
100 +{{children/}}
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103 +
Icon XWiki.XWikiComments[0]
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1 -Chris in Oslo
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1 -It's my experience that when you say to people "X should be on average Y long", they hear "X should be at least Y long". They get hung up on the number and think they have to reach it. I could absolutely imagine that people who are not experienced (usually exactly the ones who want clear and explicit guidance) will see this and make sentences *longer* because theirs is only 10 words. TL;DR: I don't think is bad advice, but I do think people are bad at averaging and bad at understanding that X limit does not mean "write X much" :)
Date
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1 -2019-05-03 15:47:13.0
Icon XWiki.XWikiComments[1]
Author
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1 -Chris in Oslo again
Comment
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1 -I'm trying to think about how I would write guidelines in a way that would mitigate what I wrote above. My experience has been that people remember the number much better than the precise thing you were trying to convey with the number (which is why we have truthy-but-wrong memes like "you only use 10% of your brain.) I guess I'm missing something above that says "Make sentences as short as possible by introducing one idea at a time" or similar?
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1 -2019-05-03 15:53:50.0
Icon XWiki.XWikiComments[2]
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1 -xwiki:XWiki.LizzieBruce
Comment
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1 -Ah, good point Chris. Will revisit this guidance wording! Thanks for the suggested alternative.
Date
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1 -2019-05-21 10:25:03.0