Clear Language

Jan Chappel, MHSc

Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety

What is “Clear Language”?

“Clear (or plain) language writing presents information in ways that make sense to the reader. It uses straightforward, concrete, familiar words, organized in a way that makes sense to the reader. Research shows that clear language has benefits for readers at all levels”

(Workers’ Compensation Board

of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut)

Clear Language is writing that is:

Direct

Well organized

Friendly

Respectful

Clear Language is not...

• ‘Talking down’

• Over simplification

• Too short can be just as bad as too long

Language may be a problem at work if ...

• Safe work procedures are not followed

• Few requests for hazard information

• Reluctance to participate

• Low or little hazard reporting

• High injury rates

• Miscommunication between management and shop floor

Cost of Unclear Language

In 1988, the estimated cost “to Canadian

businesses was $1.6 billion for industrial

accidents alone. This does not include the

cost of illiteracy from lost productivity in

other areas.”

-“Clear Language and Design” web site

Value of Writing Clearly

• By revising its forms, Citibank reduced time spent training staff by 50% and improved the accuracy of the information that staff gave to customers.

• A maker of programmable controllers found that customer service calls shifted from 50/day to 2/month after they redesigned their documents using plain language and readable formats.

Clear Writing will improve...

• Task time

• Number of errors

• Memory and retention

• Overall satisfaction / impression

How many people have trouble reading?

Four Levels of Literacy

1. Difficulty with print material.– Most likely to identify themselves as not being

able to read

2. Use print material but only in a limited way.– Recognize themselves as having difficulty with

common reading tasks

Four Levels of Literacy

3. Use reading materials for a variety of situations provided the material is simple, clearly laid out, and tasks not too complicated.– don’t see themselves as non-readers, but tend to

avoid reading.

4. Meet most of everyday reading demands.

What does this mean?

22% of Canadians are

baffled by any printed text – have trouble when they

shop, bank, fill in forms or job applications

– pick out words/phrases

– use strategies to cope

– most have excellent memories

26% have basic reading skills– can read but they don’t

enjoy it

– tend to read one syllable at a time

52% of Canadians can read – can follow print

instructions, shop, bank.

– this group is generally well educated.

Plain speaking: A Guide to Clear Communications for Health and Social Service Workers in Halton, 1999

Clear Language is for everyone.

A reader should never have to try to figure out what is happening on the page --– the focus,– the organization of material,– the purpose,– the flow of information

all should be recognized instantly with a single glance.

Planning for Clear Language

1 Know your audience

2 Know the purpose or objective of the document

3 Presentation of information

1. Audience

Know who you are writing the document for:

Workers

Management

General Public

Audience Profile

• First language?• Education level?• Age range?• Size of audience?• Other demographics:

– geographic location

– faith, race, and ethnicity

– health status

• How much information do they need/want?

• How do they feel about the topic?

• Is there more than one audience?

Recommended Audience Levels

• General public audience– Grade 6

• For the public or general workforce but information introduces new terms, concepts or specialized subject matter– Grade 7- 9

• Specialized information for target audience– Grade 10 - 12, College level

For Grade 6 - not “like” Grade 6

“Like” Grade 6 would be:

• Use a lot of words such as:– ‘like’, ‘you know’,and ‘stuff’

• Make the sentences really really short or incomplete.

• Don't forget to repeat yourself many, many times and yet at the same time remain vague

2. Purpose

The “Why”

• Why are you writing the document?

• What the readers will do with the information?

• What do you want to happen as a result?

3. Presentation of Information

a) Organization

b) Paragraph and Sentence Structure

c) Language/Word choice

d) Design

e) Graphics/Colour

A) Organization

• Place the most important information first• Emphasize what you want the reader to do

or learn– do not “bury” instructions

• ie: use 1,2,3,4 to label steps– do not “bury” the facts

A) Organization

• Use headings and subheadings – explain the text that follows– be consistent in style and design– be logical

• Use tables– useful when comparing or matching items

A) Organization• Use lists

– group similar ideas or actions together– list in terms of relevance or importance – label the list– each item should begin in the same way

• same tense of verb• noun

Short term memory can hold from 5 to 9 terms (7 ±2 items)

A) Organization

• Always left justify.Right justification is

hard to readIn addition, full justification is also hard to

read.

When reading, the eye uses white space as a marker to help keep its place on the page.

B) Language/Word Choice

Use• active voice • positive messages• respectful• friendly• direct• inclusive language

Avoid• passive voice • negative messages• bossy, patronizing• formal, impersonal• vague• assumptions, bias

B) Language/Word Choice

• Passive voice usually lacks a subject, and hides responsibility

Active: Jack hit the ball.

Passive: The ball was hit by Jack.

B) Language/Word Choice

Watch out for:

• “-tion” words

• needless words

• other tips

“-tion” words

Use• apply• specify• consider• investigate, look in to• assume

Avoid• application• specification• consideration• investigation• assumption

“Needless” Words

Use• now• without• during• near• if• to• after

Avoid• at this point in time• in the absence of • in the course of• in the neighbourhood of• in the event of/that• for the purpose of• subsequent to

Other Word Choices

Use• speed up, hasten• make easier, help• try• work out, devise, form• best, greatest, most• plan• start

Avoid• expedite• facilitate• accomplish• formulate• optimum• strategize• operationalize

Other Tips• Watch the use of slang as well as technical,

specialized or legal language

• Appropriate to use acronyms and short forms as long as they are understood by everyone. – “avoid or explain”

• Avoid Latin forms of words– residence VS house

C) Paragraph & Sentence Structure

Organize your paragraph

• State your point– define any necessary terms

• State your evidence

• Explain your evidence

• Provide a summary

• Transition, if necessary

C) Paragraph & Sentence Structure

• One idea per paragraph– about 4 or 5 sentences per paragraph

• Use transitions between two or more parts of your writing

• Use “parallel” structure– verb tense– similar construction

C) Paragraph & Sentence Structure

Use• vary sentence length• one idea per sentence• bullets with parallel

construction and grouped for relevance

Avoid• sentences over 30

words• many clauses• run on lists• “inverted” sentences

Example

Injuries may range from minor bruising and cuts to injuries like loss of teeth and, in some cases, death.

• Injuries may be minor such as bruises, cuts or lost teeth. In rare cases, death may occur.

D) Design

• Use mixed case– ALL CAPS IS HARD TO READ.

• Use bold rather than a different font to make something stand out

• Use fonts with proportionate spacing– Times New Roman VS Courier

• Use “fancy” fonts and italics sparingly– Isn’tIsn’t this hard to read?

D) Design - Font Styles

Print • use a font that is

“shapely”

Serifs:– Courier New– Palatino– Times New Roman

Web • shapes are too hard to

read when combined with background colour, pixels, etc

San Serifs:– Arial– Tahoma– Verdana

D) Design - White Space • Break text into units• Use consistent headings

– leave more space above the heading than below• Use 2 spaces after each period• Double space between paragraphs• Indent to set text or lists apart• Lines should be 50-70 characters long • Do not hyphenate words at the end of the line

E) Graphics & Colour

• Pictures and words together can have greater impact – but only when the pictures are relevant and

meaningful to the message

• Make sure pictures are meaningful to audience

• Label graphics clearly• Do not place graphics where they will

interrupt normal reading patterns

E) Graphics & Colour• Keep good contrast between text and

background– Black text on white or a pale colour is best– Red and yellow are highly visible– Blue and green are less so

• Superimposing type on a graphic or complicated background slows reading

• Readers often miss the message when the page is “too flashy”

Web Tips

• Reading from computer screens is 25% slower than from paper.– Web content should have 50% of the word

count of its paper equivalent

• Write clear, short headings– people “scan” web documents– use the “inverted pyramid” style

Web Tips

• Include links to other parts of a longer document– if document is longer than two screens,

consider using a table of contents or similar

• Use a font size of HTML 2 or 3 (12 pt)

• Do not use underline on web documents unless it is a hyperlink

Web Tips

• People may not read the material in a specific order.– May need to explain concepts more than once

or provide links to related pages– May need to re-define acronyms or definitions

• Date the publication or document

• State authorship

E-mail Tips

• Meaningful subject line

• Tell the reader what you want

• Limit the use of attachments

• Use a signature file for business

• Include only enough of the previous message to give context– use the arrow “>” to indicate old text

Examples

Example

Work in extreme heat presents a potential health hazard.

• Working when it is very hot can be dangerous to your health.

Example

Medical attention should be sought immediately.

• Get first aid immediately.

• Go to a hospital right away.

Example

Fatal exposures to cold among workers have almost always resulted from accidental exposures involving failure to escape from low environmental air temperatures or from immersion in low temperature water.

(2000 TLV booklet, p171)

• Any Suggestions?

Possible solution

In most cases, workers died from cold exposure because they accidentally stayed outside too long when it was very cold, or they fell into cold water.

Assessment Tools

• SMOG (Simple Measure of Gobbledegook)• http://www.nlhp.cpha.ca/smog.htm

• Reading Effectiveness Tool• http://www.Eastendliteracy.on.ca/

ClearLanguageAndDesign/readingeffectivenesstool/

• Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level Index– in Microsoft Word:

Tools > Options > click on “Spelling & Grammar” tab > check “Show Readability Statistics”

Resources• Clear Language and Design (CLAD)

• http://www.Eastendliteracy.on.ca/ClearLanguageAndDesign/

• The Plain Train• http://www.web.net/~plain/PlainTrain/

• National Adult Literacy Database• http://www.nald.ca/index.htm

• Canadian Public Health Association - National Literacy & Health Program

• http://www.nlhp.cpha.ca/

• EvB Communications (web tip sheet)• http://infoweb.magi.com/~evb/hand.html

Thank You!

Writing clearly is not easy.

“I would have written you a short letter,

but I didn’t have the time”- Winston Churchill