- We spoke about Plain English writing in class. Please answer the following in detail: a) How would you explain to someone what “Plain English writing” is? (4 Marks)
Plain English writing is all about catering content to be as easy to follow and understand to respect the reader’s time as much as possible. It is a way of communicating to the reader “clearly, concisely, and correctly” (Briscoe, W8—A—Plain Language Writing (W25).pdf, Slide 3). Plain language writing is not about trying to “dumb down” text but rather cutting it down in the most effective way to communicate to a target audience. This is to ensure that the intended audience can quickly grasp the message without any unnecessary wording. For example, no jargon should be used “unless you know your readers use the same jargon” (Briscoe, W8—A—Plain Language Writing Tips.pdf, Slide 22). This means to utilize plain English writing. A writer should only use phrases or “jargon” that they know their target audience directly understands. This means if technical terms are being used, be sure to explain them and avoid things like abbreviations as much as possible.
Plain English writing is all about respecting the reader’s time. “The goal is not to oversimplify but to respect the reader’s time by making information accessible and useful” (Briscoe, Lecture, February 26, 2025). This does not mean making the content any less intellectual for the reader’s understanding but valuing that people do not have time to guess what is trying to be communicated. So, for example, if a word being used has many meanings, the writer must make sure that there is enough context to instantly understand what is being said without any confusion. In addition, writing in plain English means following key principles such as using familiar words, structuring sentences logically, and avoiding long-winded explanations. Plain English writing is all about utilizing these key principles to consider the audience’s needs, ensuring they can find, understand, and act on the information without any confusion.
Here is an example of a sentence before using plain English writing elements: “The program aims to enhance student learning experiences through innovative methods.”This sentence is overly complicated and uses unnecessary words, making it harder to understand.Here is the sentence rewritten utilizing plain English elements : “The program uses innovative methods to improve how students learn.” This sentence structure is much more simple, to the point, and takes out any unnecessary or overcomplicated wording. Overall, plain English writing simply just means being clear, direct, and easy to understand.
b) What makes plain English writing different? (4 Marks)
Plain English writing is different because it prioritizes taking the time to understand a specific audience and catering that writing to effectively communicate in the most easily understandable way possible. It differentiates itself because “plain writing means YOU need to take the time to understand who your AUDIENCES ARE and what they NEED.” (Briscoe, W8 – A – Plain Language Writing (W25).pdf, Slide 20) Instead of just expecting the reader to know special terminology or phrasing, research is done on what the audience will understand to ensure that the content leaves no room for guessing. It’s all about making content that is easy to understand for a specific audience. By using this approach, it helps the reader to take action, ensuring that the “information is not just being presented but effectively communicated”(Briscoe, Lecture, February 26, 2025).
Additionally, what makes plain English writing different is that it utilizes clarity and consciousness. Unlike overly complex writing, plain language avoids using any overly complicated terminology or unnecessarily long or wordy sentence structure. This is not about dumbing the language down, but more about making it accessible to the audience that will be reading. Just because someone with a specific line of work knows certain terminology does not mean that the average reader would. Plain language ensures that wording and terms being used can be easily understood so that the reader has a clear understanding of what is being explained or what they are going to take action to do. It’s taking out any unnecessary jargon and replacing it with direct and active sentences that tell the reader exactly what to do or what is being communicated. This all comes together to create writing that has a “clear, concise message, written for the reader and in the right tone of voice” (Briscoe, W8—A—Plain Language Writing Tips.pdf, Slide 22). Clarity is the key in plain english writing, and that’s what sets it apart from other writing. By making it clear for the audience, it makes it impossible for them to misunderstand what is being said.
Plain language is different because it uses key principles to cater directly to an audience, respecting and valuing a reader’s time. The three characteristics that show if something is plain English are if a reader can “find what they need, understand it, and use it to fulfill their purpose” (Briscoe, W8—A—Plain Language Writing (W25).pdf, Slide 18). This means that plain english writing is used directly to fill a need of the reader, and if that language isn’t easily understandable, how does the reader know what need is being fulfilled? Overall, plain english writing sets itself apart because it avoids any complex language to directly target and fulfill the needs of the target audience/reader.
c) What is plain language writing for the web and in detail and in your own words, why is it important?(4 Marks)
Writing for the web in plain language means making content online that is not only easy to read but also easy to navigate and understand what is being said. When writing in plain language for the web, it’s extremely important to understand and research who the target audience is. When writing for the web, it’s all about writing for the reader. “It’s about writing as though readers matter.” (Briscoe, W8 – A – Plain Language Writing (W25).pdf, Slide 18) This means when writing plain language for the web, it’s about writing for the READER. This means not overcomplicating anything and doing research to know how to write for a specific target audience best. It’s not just guessing what might make the most sense, but knowing that when the audience reads the content, it’s impossible to misunderstand. There should be a clear call to action on what the reader will do from reading plain language content on the web. When writing plain language for the web, there are FIVE key guidelines to keep in mind: “write for your audience, organize info logically, write for action, and keep the text as short as possible while still communicating your message and design for reading.” (Briscoe, W8 – A – Plain Language Writing (W25).pdf, Slide 18) These tactics make writing in plain language extremely user-friendly. When plain language is being written for the web, it’s usually made to get the audience to do something. So by utilizing these guidelines, it enforces the reader to act on the call to action because the sentence structure is completely catered for them to do so without any unnecessary guess or confusion.
Plain language is especially important for the web because people specifically visit sites for reasons. People are not just clicking on websites for no reason; it always is for “some sort of purpose: they want to find answers, complete tasks, or make decisions” (Briscoe, Lecture, February 26, 2025). So if information and content are done through complex wording/terminology or unnecessary jargon, the reader will not want to dissect what is trying to be said. People have very little attention span, so if the reader cannot instantly understand what is being said, so they can continue to do what their purpose was on a site, they will click off. That is what makes plain language, especially on the web, so important because losing website visitors just because of complex language is extremely bad for website traffic and encouraging users to stay on a site to complete that call to action.
In addition to these reasons, plain language for the web is extremely important because of varying literacy levels. Internet users are extremely diverse, and literacy levels are not all the same; some viewers might have language barriers, so it’s critical to use words that do not overcomplicate things and make things straight to the point for the majority of an audience’s literacy levels to understand. It’s important to understand that an audience does not have all the same abilities when it comes to reading; “42% of Canadian adults struggle with literacy challenges” (Briscoe, W8—A—Plain Language Writing (W25).pdf, Slide 30). So keeping this in mind is crucial when trying to connect with an online audience through writing. Overall, plain language writing for the web is so important because it improves user experience, increases engagement, and ensures that content makes sense and is actionable to the reader.