Plain Language
Resources
Plain Truth Project
This website includes examples of plain-language translations and research, along with resources from a 2023 workshop.
One Idea Per Line: A Guide to Making Easy Read Resources
This downloadable guide from the Autistic Self Advocacy Network helps people write in Easy Read, an accessible format using pictures and easy-to-understand language.
AUCD Plain Language Toolkit
This guide offers tips, checklists, and toolkits for creating plain-language resources.
Plain Language Guide Series
This U.S. government site offers an overview of the principles of plain language, how to write clear content, how design can support plain language, and how to test plain language for understanding.
Plain Language Webinar
This training video and set of downloadable resources from Self Advocates Becoming Empowered (SABE) helps people write sentences in a way that most people can understand.
What is Bullying?
This slide and video resource from Green Mountain Self-Advocates uses common plain-language practices, including bullet points, active voice, and definitions.
Know Your Rights! Speak Up!
This video explains the HCBS rules that protect the rights of people with disabilities.
Guidelines for Effective Writing
These guidelines from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services offer writing tips and examples of what to say or not say when writing plain-language materials.
Before & After: Examples of Plain Language
Coleman Institute for Cognitive Disabilities
Plain language before and after examples.
Before | “The patient is advised to adhere strictly to the prescribed regimen of medication, which involves taking two tablets of 500 mg each of the antibiotic every eight hours, with the consumption of food to mitigate potential gastrointestinal side effects. Non-compliance with this schedule could result in diminished therapeutic efficacy and possible exacerbation of the condition.”
After | “Take two 500 mg tablets of the antibiotic every 8 hours. It’s best to take them with food to avoid stomach problems. Follow this schedule closely to make sure the medicine works properly and helps you get better."
Before | “In accordance with the stipulations set forth in the agreement, the party shall remit payment of the stipulated amount within thirty days subsequent to the receipt of the invoice. Failure to adhere to this timeline may result in penalties or interest charges as delineated in section 4.2 of the contract.”
After | “You need to pay the amount shown on the invoice within 30 days. If you don’t pay on time, you might have to pay extra fees, as explained in section 4.2 of the contract.”
Summary | “To ensure optimal safety when operating machinery, it is imperative to don all required personal protective equipment (PPE) including safety goggles, gloves, and ear protection. Adherence to these safety protocols is mandatory to mitigate risks associated with machinery operation.”
After | “Always wear safety goggles, gloves, and ear protection when using the machinery. This will help keep you safe and is required for your protection.”
Arizona Daily Star
Journalist Amy Silverman wrote a traditional and a plain-language version of a news story about a violent crime, State of Denial: Inside Arizona’s Division of Developmental Disabilities, for the Arizona Daily Star.
Before | On New Year’s Eve 2018, an Arizona long-term care facility became a crime scene.
A 29-year-old resident with disabilities so profound she could not talk, walk or care for herself shocked staff when she gave birth to a boy. No one had even noticed she was pregnant. Immediately it was clear she had been raped.
After | In 2018, a crime happened in Arizona. A woman was raped. Raped means someone had sex with her when she did not want to.
The woman lives in a long-term care facility. She can not walk or talk. Staff help care for her. She was 29 when she was raped.