Taking simple seriously
Image: Uncredited from WallpaperFlare
While we’ve documented the formal push by governments in the United States and New Zealand to legislate plain language in the past, we’ve recently seen a shift towards producing easier to read documents at the grassroots level here in Australia. At Red Pony, we use a 3-tier system to classify the different requirements for any simplified English project.
Firstly, a note on terminology. While we often receive requests for a plain language ‘translation’, even ‘editing for simplicity’, we use the term ‘rewriting’ to describe our service. A simplified English project starts from the ground up. It involves finding different words and sentence structures to re-present the content for a new audience.
Rewriting with metrics in mind
The best way to help a client define the level of rewriting they require begins with some basic readability metrics. It’s easy to calculate a reading grade score through the ‘editor’ function in Microsoft Word. A readability score generally considers the average number of syllables per word, average number of words per sentence and how technical (or uncommon) the words are.
A specialised piece of technical writing for an audience of experts may attract a reading grade score of 13. The Australian manual of style defines a reading grade score of 7–8 (equal to that many years of schooling) as suitable for a ‘general’ audience. Using this metric to determine where the original content is when it arrives and where the client wants it to be encourages a rewrite with a specific target in mind.
Level 1: plain English (or plain language) rewrite
This level of rewriting aims to simplify technical or legal content for a general audience. This should equal a reading grade around 8 (or 9 if technical terms need to be retained). This level of rewrite should retain the structure and format of the original. Generally, it will reduce the word count by using more straightforward syntax and simpler language. Longer listing sentences will become bulleted lists and important ideas will be split into distinct paragraphs and sentences, making them easier to differentiate.
Level 2: easy English (or ‘simple English’ or ‘easy read’) rewrite
This rewrite will simplify the most important aspects of the piece for an audience with lower levels of English literacy. This should result in a reading grade score below 8. The aim is to significantly reduce the word count and remove almost all technical language. This rewrite relies on communication aids like bulleted lists (instead of sentences), which can be helpful for non-native English speakers and translation software, as well as larger fonts and corresponding images. To cut and replace words without losing the meaning of the original requires consultation between the writer and the content provider.
Level 3: Specialised low English literacy rewrite
This is a specific communication aid for an audience not able to read English at the equivalent of 4–5 years of schooling. The aim of this level of rewrite is to use an almost 1:1 ratio of Picture Communication Symbols (PCS) to text, bullet points only and a concise lexicon of common words (approximately 800–1000 words). Rewriting at this level requires external consultation with disability communication specialists who have access to the PCS database and experience writing with the specific needs of the audience in mind.
While the push to simplify content for a general audience is upon us, understanding these levels of simplicity in terms of reading grades is hopefully a useful starting point to make your content more accessible with rewriting.
