The time has come…
For me to depart from the Center’s Board. It’s been a terrific 10 years, but I need a rest and the Center needs a change of leadership.
We’ve gotten a lot done since we hosted our first big conference, the Plain International conference in Washington in 2005. We had over 300 people from 17 countries participate. The event set the trend for the bigger and better Clarity and Plain International Conferences we now enjoy…
Low health literacy… It could happen to you
It may be hard to believe that nearly 9 out of 10 adults in our country have trouble understanding everyday health information.
And it’s not always because they have not had much education, are aging or poor, or don’t speak English as their native language. There are so many reasons why people—people like you and me—may have low health literacy.
On the event of Annetta’s “retirement”
In honor of the retirement of Annetta L. Cheek, PhD, Board Chair and co-founder of the Center for Plain Language, an American flag will fly over
Dealing with the “dumb down” dinosaur, or how to enlighten the ignorant without losing your job.
It continues to shock me that in the year 2014 I still hear people say, “Oh, you want to dumb down my writing” when the subject of plain language comes up.
My reaction is…
Analysis: The high cost of gobbledygook
In an op ed originally published in Government Executive, Congressman Bruce Braley, the author of the Plain Writing Act of 2010, writes about the problems and costs of confusing government language, and about the role of the Center’s report card in addressing the issue.
Plain Language Report Card
Reposted from www.healthwise.org Karen Baker, MHS, Senior Vice President, 11/25/2013 Plain language has been making headlines—in the world beyond health care! Last week was report card
PLAIN 2013: From Vancouver, the future looks clear
Heading back from the biennial conference of the Plain Language Association International (which was absolutely fantastic, by the way), I found my thoughts coming back
Ever get lost in an official or legal document?
In his newest column in the Legal Writing Editor (legalwritingeditor.com) Professor Joseph Kimble asks if there are any writers out there who think that the
There’s no ease in legalese
Matthew Salzwedel offers some great tips and persuasive advocacy in his online column, most recently Simple Legal Writing Isn’t Baby-Talk. One answer to Matthew’s question, Can
Hawkeye Pierce pierces barriers between scientists and the rest of us
Earlier this year, CBS Sunday Morning interviewed actor and professor Alan Alda about his efforts to help science students learn to speak to people in language they can
New Resource: We ❤ Health Literacy
Our friends at CommunicateHealth just announced the launch of We ❤ Health Literacy, a new weekly email full of health literacy-related tips and tricks. Their
Join a host of Plain Language experts at the 20th Anniversary of PLAIN
Join a group of inspiring presenters and committed plain language advocates by attending the PLAIN2013 conference in Vancouver, October 10-13. http://www.plain2013.org/ Plain Language Association InterNational