Blog

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 a chart with a summary of terms. The document looked so official and complex that my first reaction was to call the phone number to speak to a real person. I was confused. I couldn’t make sense of the coverage explanation, platinum options, or program terms (which legitimate insurance quotes have). The only reason I realized this was a scam was because of typos and no reference to a specific company or government agency (such as a car dealership or the DMV). The combination of document complexity and confusing content made this scam much more deceptive than other attempts. When industries create a culture of complicated language, it can make already-vulnerable customers more likely to fall for scams that take advantage of unclear content. Criminals fill their scams with such complex jargon (common for insurance companies) that it’s impossible for their victims to understand. Then they call the number and give the scammer their personal information. Companies could provide insurance documents and quotes that are easy to understand. This plain
Read this article

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 only have the potential to make our work in plain language easier, but may also provide more opportunities for those of us working in this area. Therefore, we can all benefit from the success of this effort.
Read this article

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 afternoon to spend reading the fine print. Going to the doctor? It’s easy, once you’ve filled out these ten new patient forms.
Read this article

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 $1,200/hour lawyer to write the agreement in English, “so the average American user can understand.” Facebook knows how to do this, at least fairly well. So why didn’t they?
Read this article

Ensuring that written materials are easy to understand and use often starts with plain language best practices and includes field testing to “test” the content, format, and messages with the intended audience. Developers agree that user-centered design and feedback from intended audiences are critically important to developing clear, understandable, and useable information. However, there are often challenges to soliciting meaningful input from the “right” audience members, specifically, those with low literacy or low health literacy.
Read this article

No one could accuse Brooke Ellis of shying away from a challenge. For her inaugural engagement with the Center for Plain Language, Brooke took on the biggest volunteer opportunity we have – the annual ClearMark Awards. She joins Solstice Benefits colleague and Center board member, Alissa Gavrilescu as co-chair for the 2018 awards event scheduled for May 8 in Washington, D.C.
Read this article

If you’re reading this, you are probably a pretty big enthusiast for plain language and are promoting the cause in some way or other. Thank you for that! Here’s a way you can help the cause even more – as a Board Member for the Center for Plain Language. We’re holding elections next month for a number of openings on our corporate board and are looking for people with a passion for Plain Language.
Read this article

In the Broadway musical Hamilton, with these words, Alexander Hamilton, the “ten dollar Founding Father without a father” commits to fight for freedom for the American colonies. Now three U.S. Congressmen are taking their shot, committing to fight for freedom from bureaucratic language for American citizens. On Friday, March 16, Congressman Seth Moulton (D-MA), Congressman Mark Meadows (R-NC), and Congressman Dave Loebsack (D-IA) announced the introduction of the “Too Long; Didn’t Read” Act.
Read this article