Honoring Karen Sokohl: Advocate, Colleague, and Friend
Karen Sokohl joined the Center for Plain Language Board in 2021, eager to serve a three-year term. Her passion for plain language was immediately clear—as was her creative and generous spirit. She was bright, enthusiastic, witty, and always ready to jump in and help.
Plain Language: Connecting Us Through Good and Bad Times
A year ago, my fellow employees and I officially launched the Town of Chapel Hill’s Plain Language program with an online center of excellence, a style guide, and an ambitious plan to train as many of our staff as possible in plain language basics.
Clear Language, Fair Justice: Simplifying Debt Processes in Minnesota
At the urging of Ian Lewenstein, a Center for Plain Language Board Member, the Center helped support a medical-debt bill in the Minnesota Legislature. The bill—passed in May—addressed the harmful impact of medical debt on people’s lives.
What is readability and why should content editors care about it?
For an organization, going digital with its communication often reduces cost. Self-service, chatbots, and FAQ sections are increasingly popular to reduce face-to-face or phone interactions.
Adapting to experts
When it comes to plain language, every subject matter expert has an opinion. They may worry the methods oversimplify their work and will lower their professional reputation. Or they may feel the word choices are less precise or too general and will cause doubt about their research results.
“Say it once and say it well”
Considering a new job in the new year? You are not alone. During fall, workers complete performance reviews and learn how they rate, but many employees are also evaluating their own feelings about the boss, the company, and the future.
If you are updating your resume this holiday season…
Building and sustaining a culture of plain language – Food and Drug Administration
Way back in 1998, Vice President Gore signed a memo setting up expectations that information from the Federal government would be easy for the public to understand.
Save time and money: best practices to build and sustain a plain language program
We know that sinking feeling when we read a confusing email or business letter. We scan the wall of words and ask ourselves, ‘why should I care, what does this mean to me, and what am I supposed to do with this information?’
Building and sustaining a culture of plain language – Hennepin County, Minnesota
Making information less complex and more concise How we knew we needed a plain language program In 2010, most of our day-to-day communications with county residents were lengthy, overly complex, and often filled with legal jargon. In addition, each county department had their own style and voice. Surveys of residents showed they were often confused and frustrated by the information they received from us. In addition, front-line staff were asking for help with communications. We had a team of nearly 100 people assigned to maintain the county website, and none of them had received training on how to write effective
Plain Language Advances Technical Communication
We previously covered how plain language supports science communication, and today we will focus on how plain language advances technical communication. We will answer the top three questions from technical experts and management leaders, and we will point you in the right direction for ways to apply plain language elements to your next project.
Building and sustaining a culture of plain language – Social Security Tribunal of Canada
Since 2018 we have introduced a lot of changes to make our legal process more accessible. Building a culture of plain language was one of them. It cost us very little, but has made a big difference in how ordinary people use our service. In terms of cost versus benefit, it has been a massive bargain.
Building and sustaining a culture of plain language – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
In 2006, I was working as a writer-editor in the regulatory shop of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency responsible for providing legal immigration benefits and services. Any one of our regulations could affect thousands to millions of people, many of whom didn’t speak English as a first language. So we had to get the language right.