Easy read is a method of presenting written information to make it easier to understand for people with difficulty reading.
Easy read advocates sentences of no more than ten to fifteen words, with each sentence having just one idea and one verb. Active sentences are used instead of passive sentences. Easy read is closely edited to express ideas in a small number of simple words. Any difficult word or idea is explained in a separate sentence.
The plain English statement: "Thank you for your letter asking for permission to put up a poster in the library; before we can give you an answer, we will need to see a copy of the poster to assure that it won't offend anyone." could be rewritten in easy read as follows: "Thank you for your letter about your poster; we need to see the poster to check that it won't upset people, then we can decide if you can put it up."
An easy read document is usually presented in at least 14-point text, in a sans-serif font, is limited to 24 pages of content, and includes carefully selected images to help people understand.
The UK government promotes the use of easy read across the public sector, in order to increase access to public services.
In Australia, in response to research conducted with the community and public sector staff, the South Australian government promotes the broad benefits of easy read in their Online Accessibility Toolkit.
See also
- Basic English, a controlled language, created by Charles Kay Ogden, which only contains a small number of words
- Learning English (version of English), used by the Voice of America broadcasting service
- Plain English unequivocal word list
- New General Service List simple word list
- Simplified Technical English, a controlled language originally developed for aerospace industry maintenance manuals
References
- "Guidance: Accessible communication formats". gov.uk. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
- "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-02-13. Retrieved 2019-06-14.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - Making written information easier to understand for people with learning disabilities (PDF). Department of Health. 2010. Archived from the original on 12 August 2013. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - "Easy read". South Australian Government Online Accessibility Toolkit. Archived from the original on 2020-02-17. Retrieved 2019-09-09.
External links
- "About the Terms of Reference: Easy Read version" (PDF). Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability. Australian Government. April 2019. – an example of an Easy read document published in Australia in 2019.