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From: Employment and Social Development Canada

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Use everyday language rather than specialized language

Everyday language

Carefully choosing your words is critical. When we write, even in everyday language, we sometimes use words in ways that do not mean what we intend.

For example, instead of writing:

Write:

When in doubt about the accuracy of a word, consult a standard dictionary.

Whenever possible, use everyday language in your accessibility plans, progress reports and feedback process descriptions. Avoid using technical terms and jargon. Tailor your vocabulary to your target audience.

For example, instead of writing:

Try:

Use the shortest and simplest wording possible. Here are some examples:

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Specialized language

You may sometimes need to use technical or specialized terms. If you do, make sure to use the correct and most common term by checking in a terminology bank. These banks are directories of terms that people use in specialized fields (such as finance, transportation, or mining).

The Government of Canada has its own terminology bank, Termium Plus. The Office québécois de la langue française has Grand dictionnaire terminologique (in French only) or GDT. Termium Plus and the GDT are multilingual banks that extend to fields beyond the federal or provincial public service.

To help readers understand the technical terms you use, you have different options:

You can send along an explanation.

For example:

Or you can offer examples, such as:

Additionally, you can follow the term with a more familiar word in brackets.

For example:

You can define the terms you used in a glossary at the end of the text.

Lastly, keep in mind that the abbreviations for certain technical terms are better known than the terms themselves. Few people know the meaning of deoxyribonucleic acid, but many have heard of DNA, its abbreviation.

You have to decide which form of the word is most familiar to your readers. For more information about abbreviations, see 4.1.3 Beware of abbreviations.

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Beware of abbreviations

Abbreviations are shorter ways of referring to words or terms. Acronyms are one example. They are usually made up of the first letter of each word in a name or term. As a general rule, it is better to avoid abbreviations since they can be hard for readers to understand. However, you may want to use abbreviations if repeating a long term many times makes your text harder to read.

Write out the full name or term the first time you mention it in your text, followed by the abbreviation in brackets. The next time it occurs, use the abbreviation only.

For example:

You can also include a list of abbreviations at the beginning of the document.

Some terms have abbreviated forms that readers are more likely to know. For example, people commonly refer to software on their smartphones and tablets as apps rather than applications. The same goes for acronyms like ATMs (automated teller machines), EI (employment insurance) and the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police). It is up to your organization to determine which form will allow your readers to understand your terms easily.

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Simplify your verbs

Verbs offer great opportunities to simplify. Sometimes, you can simply switch to the infinitive or imperative form to address the reader directly. Examples of the infinitive form are “to run,” or “to write.” Examples of the imperative form are “run!” or “write that down.”

For example, instead of writing:

Try:

If possible, use positive rather than negative language.

For example, instead of writing:

Try:

Only people who are hard of hearing may use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD).

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Contractions

A contraction is when you combine words by removing some letters and adding an apostrophe. For example, when “we will” becomes “we’ll.”

Contractions can give your writing a more natural and familiar tone. After all, we are used to hearing and using contractions in everyday conversations. Contractions can also make sentences shorter and easier to read.

Consider how formal you want your text to be. For more formal writing, you may want to avoid contractions.

Here are a few common contractions:

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Build sentences with care

Choosing words is important, but it is only one part of the process. The next step is to combine those words to form simple, clear, and concise sentences.

Shorten your sentences

Not everyone agrees on what a short, long, or too long sentence is. However, most people would agree that short, simple, well-built sentences are the easiest to understand.

Here are a few tips to shorten and simplify your sentences:

Still, reading a series very short sentences can become tedious. You risk losing your reader’s attention.

Use short and simple sentences when it suits the ideas they convey. Consider using a few longer sentences in between them to vary the rhythm.

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Build simple sentences

When possible, use a sentence structure that is simple and easy to follow. For example, put your subject first, your verb next, and your object last. (The subject is the person or thing doing the action. The verb is the action they are taking. The object is the person or thing they are doing the action to or for.)

In this sentence: “The employee wrote the document,” “the employee” is the subject, “wrote” is the verb, and “the document” is the object.

For example, instead of writing:

Try:

Instead of writing:

Try:

Put the subject and the verb close together in the sentence. Don’t separate them with clauses or unnecessary words

For example, instead of writing:

Try:

Instead of writing:

Try:

Some complex sentences can be perfectly understandable when you build them well. Reread or have someone else proofread your sentences to ensure they are readable and clear. The following is an example of a poorly built sentence that creates confusion, and 2 possible clarifications.

Instead of writing:

Try:

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Use the active voice

When building a sentence, you can choose the active or passive voice. With the active voice, the subject does the action.

For example:

With the passive voice, the subject undergoes the action, and it is difficult to know who is doing the action.

For example:

Using the active voice will make your accessibility plans, progress reports and feedback process descriptions clearer and easier to read. Even so, you may sometimes decide to use the passive voice in certain situations. It is not always possible or useful to know who is responsible for an actionFootnote 1.

Be careful not to change the meaning of a sentence when you try to switch it from passive to active.

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Use verbs instead of nouns

To make your sentences clearer, use short and direct verbs, whenever possible. Avoid turning verbs into nouns.

For example, instead of writing:

Try:

Instead of writing:

Try:

Remember that language is a flexible tool. Sometimes, it can be more natural to use a noun.

For example, instead of writing:

Try:

Simply remember that:

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Create paragraphs

By breaking down your text into paragraphs, you give your plans and reports structure. This will make your documents easier to follow.

In general, each paragraph should focus on one main idea and only include 5 or 6 sentences.

Use relevant transition words to link your paragraphs and ideas.

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Review the entire text

Once you have finished writing, reread your entire text to confirm that it is consistent, concise, and readable.

Be consistent

Be consistent with your key words and terms. If you change the words you use to refer to important concepts, you risk confusing your readersFootnote 2.

For example, if you talk about your accessibility plan, always call it a plan. Do not call it a “strategy,” “project” or “program” later in your text to switch up your vocabulary. Also avoid calling anything else “a plan” in that document.

This advice does not always apply to the repetition of less important words such as verbs, expressions or linking words. For example, you might not always want to use “however” to indicate contrast. You could add variety with words like, “but,” “yet,” and “nevertheless,” as appropriate.

Using repetition well involves deliberately using the same key terms to help the reader follow the textFootnote 3.

Be concise

Edit your document to remove unnecessary words, sentences, information and repetitionFootnote 4. Keep only deliberate repetitions that you use to emphasize a point or to keep using consistent key words.

Take out anything that does not add new or important information. Provide all the information that is directly relevant to your target audience, and nothing more. Your message will be clearer if you stick to essential information and drop unnecessary detailsFootnote 5.

There is no need to state the obvious, as demonstrated in the 2 examples that follow.

Instead of writing:

Try:

Instead of writing:

Try:

Shorten some passages through effective word choices.

For example, instead of writing:

Try:

Some articles or adjectives can help shorten a text and making it more cohesive.

For example, instead of writing:

Try:

Use pronouns to avoid repetition.

For example, instead of writing:

Try:

However, ensure that the pronoun does not create doubt or confusion.

For example:

Never sacrifice clarity for concision.

Check your content’s readability and usability

First, reread your text carefully. Make sure your accessibility plans, feedback process descriptions and progress reports are readable and usable.

Some statistical tools are available online to test a document’s readability. However, these tools only check features like average sentence and paragraph length, or number of syllables per word.

Keep in mind that these tools have important limitations. Simplicity, clarity and concision cannot be reduced to mathematical considerations. The message comes first, not the number of words or the length of sentences and paragraphs.

You can ask your readers to assess the readability of your documents. Ask someone from your target audience to read your accessibility plan, feedback process description and progress reports. And, more specifically, ask persons with disabilities to read them. Ask them if they:

There are many ways to test usability with your readers. How to test the usability of documents offers information on 3 methods:

Langue claire et simple : évaluer l’utilisabilité des documents (in French only) offers information on 3 other methods:

The Simplification Center in the United Kingdom conducted an in-depth review of criteria published by many organizations to assess document clarity. The article, criteria for clear documents: a survey (PDF format), contains a long list of criteria for testing the clarity and readability of your documents.

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