Plain English

According to Plain English Campaign (www.plainenglish.co.uk), plain English is "… something that the intended audience can read, understand and act upon the first time they read it. Plain English takes into account design and layout as well as language."

Many organisations have found that plain English brings commercial advantages. Plain English Campaign's facts page contains these examples:

Plain English Campaign has an excellent guide to clear writing. For example, guidelines include:

Plain language resources

Plain English Campaign is a commercial organisation that promotes clear English in the UK. It supplies The A to Z of alternative words (www.plainenglish.co.uk/alternative.pdf).

Plain Language Commission is a commercial organisation that promotes clear English in the UK. It supplies Plain English Lexicon. A guide to whether your words will be understood (www.clearest.co.uk/files/PlainEnglishLexicon.pdf).

The Improvement and Development Agency is owned by the Local Government Association. It has a plain English section (www.idea.gov.uk/idk/core/page.do?pageId=8021380) on its website.

StyleWriter is an editing tool for plain English:

Plain Language Association International (PLAIN) (www.plainlanguagenetwork.org) is an international non-profit organisation of plain language advocates and professionals.

Clarity (www.clarity-international.net) is an international organisation that promotes clear legal language.

See also

Beyond plain English

AECMA Simplified English

Writing for an international audience

RSS feed