User:ThatPeskyCommoner/Plain English for policies

Some thoughts and sources.

Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts.

William Strunk Jr., The Elements of Style

• Familiar words (words in everyday use) are more easily understood.
• If something has a natural order in which it should be done, present it in that order.
• Avoid jargon, acronyms, and abbreviations. If they can't be avoided, explain them in simple terms the first time you use them.
• Use as few words and sentences as you can while still getting the message across. Visual "breaks" (white space) make reading easier. "To enhance the readability of prose text, a sentence should not contain more than twenty words. A paragraph should not contain more than six sentences."
• Use active voice. "Users benefit from simple, direct language. Sentences in active voice are typically more concise than sentences in passive voice. Strong verbs help the user know who is acting and what is being acted upon. In one study, people who had to interpret federal regulation language spontaneously translated passive sentences into active sentences in order to form an understanding of the passages."
• Write instructions as "Do" rather than as "Don't" (write in the affirmative) unless the the things to avoid doing are either very likely to be done, or have serious consequences if they are done.

Write for the target audience

Definition of the target audience: This is (allegedly!) "the encyclopedia that anyone can edit". Therefore our target audience is "anyone".

Everything in Make technical articles accessible is applicable to policies. Policies are WikiTechnical, but we need them to be easily understood by people who are not WikiExperts.

• Have a clear goal
• Understand your reader

• Who will be using the information?

• age
• socioeconomic background
• cultural background
• educational background
• literacy level

• Cover one concept at a time and use uncomplicated sentences

Examples of "how we really do it"!

9 Easy Steps ...