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Before you write

From: Employment and Social Development Canada

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Preface

Writing in simple, clear and concise language is not limited to practical writing tips. Above all else, you should focus on meeting the needs of readers and on your expected results. Use the tips that suit the readers’ needs the best. After all, the reader comes first.

Before you start writing accessibility plans, progress reports or feedback process descriptions, ask yourself a few questions. What is your idea of simple, clear and concise writing? Have you clearly identified what you want to say to your target audience? How do you want to organize your thoughts? Have you considered the layout and visual design? This section will help you answer these questions.

Simple, clear and concise language: misconceptions and realities

There are several misconceptions about simple, clear and concise language. Some may equate writing clearly, simply and concisely with writing in a boring wayFootnote 1. Others may think technical terms or specialized language are essential to expressing their message and fear having to sacrifice accuracy for simplicity.

However, writers sometimes underestimate the challenges that the public faces when reading texts. A number of disabilities can affect a person’s ability to perceive, understand or retain written information. Some disabilities have an impact on the reader’s ability to focus long enough to absorb information. Literacy levels and knowledge of official languages can also vary widely in the general population.

Some writers overestimate the time readers will spend trying to find what they need in a text. They may also assume their readers are just as familiar with a topic as they are.

Simple, clear and concise language is a way to communicate that is easy for people to read and understand. It is direct, succinct, and easy to follow. It focuses on meeting readers’ needs and uses:

Simple, clear and concise language helps reduce barriers in communication. It makes writing more accessible for everyone, including people with different types of disabilities and readers with different language and literacy levels.

Choose your words and content carefully when preparing your accessibility plans, feedback process descriptions, and progress reports. Use concrete words, with an engaging and readable style. The general public should be able to read and understand these documents. Do not assume that readers are already familiar with your organization’s work. Give them all the essential information, but do not distract them with unnecessary details. Break down complex ideas to make them easier to digest. Present your ideas in a straightforward and logical way.

Simple, clear and concise writing is not an exact science. There are many different ways of expressing ideas. You may not be able to apply the tips in this guidance all the time or all at once. Use your judgment. Adapt this advice to meet your organization’s goals and your readers’ needs.

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Know your readers

Think about your target audience and your text’s purpose. Before you start writing, you should determine:

You can learn about your readers in various ways. For example, you could contact clients, disability organizations or people with lived experience directly to ask about their needs and interests. You can also follow their discussions on the Internet and social media.

This will help you tailor your vocabulary and writing style to your audience.

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Plan your content

Think about the purpose of your accessibility plans, feedback process descriptions and progress reports. Ideally, you should be able to summarize their purpose in one sentence.

For example:

Consider your accessibility plans, progress reports, and feedback process descriptions from your readers’ perspective. What do they want to find out? The Editing Unit in the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Translation has established that, generally, readers are looking for answers to 7 basic questions:

Keep the answers to these questions in mind as you write your document.

For example, instead of writing a broad and vague statement like this:

Try to be more specific and concrete, like this:

Organize your ideas

Create an outline for your accessibility plans, feedback process descriptions and progress reports. Mapping out your ideas ahead of time will help you stay on track.

Organize your ideas and present them in a logical way. Putting the most important information up front can help readers find and absorb it more easily.

Break your document into sections. Each section should address a different topic or audience. Give each section a short and clear heading. That will help readers browse for key words or information. Remember to include all the headings that the regulations require. (Read section 5 of the regulations for accessibility plans, and section 14 for progress reports.)

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Design and visual presentation

The layout and design of your document are also important. Do not clutter your document with too much text. Remove unnecessary information so readers can find what they need quickly and easily.

Choices about font style, font size, diagrams, or background colours can help you highlight your message. Even white space can make some information stand out more by decluttering your pages.

However, remember that your document’s design and visual presentation may have a different impact on different target audiences.

For example:

Never rely on font style, font size, texture or colour to relay important information. For more information on this topic, see our guidance on creating accessible documents.

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