Plain Language

Impact

Coloradans deserve plain language communication from their government. We’re all busy people and don’t want to spend time “translating” difficult, wordy documents. 

Plain language also helps:

• People with cognitive disabilities
• People with low literacy skills
• People who speak English as a foreign language
• People who use assistive technology

Plain language means readers understand your documents more quickly, call less often for explanations, make fewer errors filling out forms, and can comply more accurately and quickly with requirements.

Overview

• Plain language is communication your audience can understand the first time they read or hear it.
• Language that is plain to one set of readers may not be plain to others. Material is in plain language if your audience can:
  • Find what they need
  • Understand what they find the first time they read or hear it
  • Use what they find to meet their needs

How to

• Organize the content in a way that makes sense to your readers
• Use “you” and other pronouns
• Use an active voice rather than a passive voice
• Create short sentences and paragraphs
• Use common, everyday words and avoid using idioms or figures of speech.
• Apply easy-to-follow design features (lists, headers, tables (TBD))
• As you’re writing, consider the subject literacy level of your target audience. Define terms that may be unfamiliar, and use an agency or division’s full name before using its acronym or abbreviation. 
• Consider adding a glossary if your content contains many potentially unfamiliar terms. Include in-line definitions for scientific, legal, or technical terms that you must use.
• More information is available on the How to Use Plain Language in Your Communications web page. 

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