Public Law 111–274—Oct. 13, 2010

The Plain Writing Act of 2010 (Public Law 111-274) was signed into law on October 13, 2010.

The Act calls for plain writing that is clear, concise, well-organized, and consistent with other best practices appropriate to the subject or field and intended audience.

It encourages writers and communicators to avoid jargon, redundancy, ambiguity, and obscurity. Experience has shown that plain writing has many benefits including:

• improving public understanding of government communications and requirements
• saving money and increasing efficiency
• reducing the need for public clarification
• reducing resources spent on enforcement
• increasing public understanding of agency forms and applications
• reducing the number of errors made and the time and effort required to fix them

Short, clear and simple communication has several benefits for the reader:

• to find what they need,
• understand what they read, and
• and do what they need to the first time they read it.

 

Source: https://www.fda.gov/about-fda/plain-writing-its-law/plain-writing-act-2010

 

Plain Language Principles

Source: https://www.fda.gov/about-fda/plain-writing-its-law/plain-language-principles

 

“Plain language,” also known sometimes as “plain English,” is writing in a way that helps readers understand the content in a document the first time they read it. It’s also the law.

The Plain Writing Act of 2010¹ requires all federal agencies to use plain language whenever they communicate with the public.

Writing in plain language is not unprofessional. It’s not “dumbing down” the message or “talking down” to the audience. When you write clearly and get to the point without using unnecessary words or technical jargon, you get your message across more quickly and increase the chance the information will be understood and used.

 

Usage Tips

Information written in plain language have some common characteristics, including:

• Identifying your audience and the point you’re trying to make
• Putting the most important point at the beginning
• Using common, easily understood words
• Using only technical terms when necessary, and make certain you’ve explain their meaning
• Using active verbs and personal pronouns
• Using bullets, tables, and other design features that break up the text and add visual interest
• Using short sentences and paragraphs (Sentences should average 15-20 words)
• Using acronyms and abbreviations sparingly

Plain Language on the Web

• Be concise
• Break documents into separate topics
• Use short paragraphs—even shorter than on paper
• Use short lists and bullets to organize information
• Use even more headings with less under each heading
• Use white space liberally, so pages are easy to scan
• Use the same words a reader would use in a Web search—especially in the title
• Each page should stand on its own (Don’t assume your readers know the background on a topic or have read related pages on your site.)
• Never use “click here” as a link—link language should describe what your reader will get if they click the link.

Don’t Be Wordy

Here are some examples of extra words and their plain alternatives:

Wordy	Clear
accordingly	so
as a means of	to
as prescribed by	in, under
at a later date	later
at the present time	now, currently
commence	begin, start
constitutes	forms, makes up
for the purpose of	to, for
heretofore	until, now
in accordance with	under
in order to	to
in the event that	if
on a monthly basis	monthly
pertaining to	of, about
related to	of
so as to	to
should it appear that	if
with regard to	about
shall	will

 

 

Photo by Luke Michael on Unsplash

Anno: 2010