The Center would like to thank the following volunteers who gave their time and expertise to review all the pages in the Federal Report Card. You have made the world a little clearer. David Lipscomb (lead judge), Vice Chair of the Center for Plain Language, is also a board member of the International Plain Language Federation. He […]
Search Results for: Plain writing act of 2010
Could earlier adoption of health literacy standards have prevented the opioid crisis?
With the 2010 enactment of the Plain Writing Act and National Action Plan to Improve Health Literacy, the development and dissemination of health information that was accurate, accessible and actionable became the focus of regulatory agencies and the medical industry they monitor. The National Action Plan promoted changes to the healthcare industry by requiring improved research communication and medication labeling with the end goal of more-informed decision making by both doctors and patients.
Scribes Establishes the Joseph Kimble Distinguished Service Award
By Legal Writing Prof Scribes – The American Society of Legal Writers – has renamed its Distinguished Service Award as the Joseph Kimble Distinguished Service Award. The honor came as a complete surprise to Professor Kimble, a former Executive Director and longtime Board Member of Scribes. Professor Kimble was in the audience at the Oklahoma […]
Financial Product Legalese – It’s on you
The Center for Plain Language had this to say about the legal fine print that overran one advertisement for an investment product: “Once again a financial institution that expects me to trust them with my money makes it impossible for me to know what they are going to do with my money.”
The Center had singled out a Charles Schwab & Co. ad for a Wondermark “award” for unintelligible writing.
Trimmed gobbledygook
What exactly is gobbledygook? The dictionary definition is “language characterized by circumlocution and jargon, usually hard to understand.”
(Is it just me? Or is it ironic that a dictionary definition of gobbledygook includes an obscure 5-syllable word (circumlocution) that could just as easily have been “wordiness?” Just thinking…)
About
What do we mean by plain language? A communication is in plain language if its wording, structure, and design are so clear that the intended readers can easily find what they need, understand what they find, and use that information. The definition of “plain” depends on the audience. What is plain for one audience may […]