
Awards Recognize: “Plain Language is Everywhere”
The Center for Plain Language announces finalists for its highly popular annual ClearMark awards which recognize the best in plain language communications created by North American organizations. Held every year since 2010, “The theme for this year’s ClearMarks is ‘Plain Language is Everywhere,” says Jeff Greer, Chair of the Center ...
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A Plain Language Veteran Puts Her Expertise on Trial
An interview with Deborah Bosley Deborah Bosley is owner and principal of The Plain Language Group and professor emeritus of technical communication at UNC Charlotte. For two decades she has helped organizations create written information that exceeds compliance standards and is easy for people to understand and use. A former ...
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International Plain Language Standards—Next Step is Australia Standards Application – Susan Kleimann, Ph.D.
The Montréal Clarity Conference was remarkable for its setting, for the varied presentations, and for the particularly strong legal presence. Quite special was the Plenary Session for the Plain Language Federation which was co-founded by the Center for Plain Language, Plain Language Association International, and Clarity-International ...
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October 2018 Volunteer of the Month: Sonia Sánchez Moreno
No one knows this truth better than Sonia Sánchez Moreno, Director of Community Translations for Sylaba Translations and two-time judge for the annual Spanish ClearMark awards. Sonia’s advocacy for plain language in translations is inspiring and her hard work as a judge helps the Center ensure that we have a ...
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How Plain Language Could Help Reduce Scams
By Tanner Call I’ve recently been the target of a clever direct mail scam. It involves convincing the potential victim that their vehicle’s warranty is about to expire and that they need to renew it soon. The letter includes “official” components such as a barcode, logo, reference number, and even ...
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International Plain Language Federation
We recently sent an email to our members about an effort to develop international standards on plain language. The information below is a summary of that email, including what you can do now to support this effort. As we noted in the email, any efforts towards developing standards will not ...
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Bridging the gap between plain language and user expectations
In so many areas of our lives, things are way too complicated. Applying for a job? Awesome, if you have 45 minutes to fill out a form with the exact same information from the resume you already uploaded. Buying a car? It’s a cinch, as long as you’ve got an ...
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Facebook knew better
A few weeks ago, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified before the Senate. That’s not news. Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) stated the obvious: "Here's what everyone's been trying to tell you today — and I say it gently — your user agreement sucks." Senator Kennedy suggested that Mr. Zuckerberg tell his ...
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