What does it mean to review for plain language?
In a plain language review, we make sure that a document is designed so that audiences can:
- Find the information they need
- Understand the information they find
- Use that information to do what they want to do
By document, we mean anything you publish: Web pages, letters, brochures, forms, files, and so on.
Plain language editing means identifying ways that documents cause friction for audiences and removing them.
Tests for evaluating if a document is written in plain language
This guide introduces 5 tests, or ways to read a document and search for potential sources of friction. These tests don’t cover everything, but they help you check for common problems. The tests are:
- Is it clear who the document is for and what they can do with it?
- Does the structure of information match the audience’s needs?
- Can you scan the document using headings, labels, and other cues?
- Are there too many unexplained ideas too close together?
- Does the tone create unnecessary barriers?
Download a worksheet version of this guide to plain language review
We’ve created a worksheet that you can use to work through these tests. Each test includes prompts that help you evaluate the document. Use it to organize your thoughts and identify the most important changes a document needs.
Test 1: Is it clear who the document is for and what they can do with it? (Audience and purpose)
To judge if something is in plain language, you have to know who it's for and what it should let them do. In fact, most documents should answer it explicitly. For example:
- “People looking for health insurance can read this guide to learn if they are eligible.”
- “This brochure helps homeowners in Massachusetts learn what actions they can take to save on electricity.”
- “The Department of Economic Research (DER) produces data for state and regional policymakers to better understand the Massachusetts labor market.”
Many successful plain language revisions begin by adding sentences like these. As a bonus, they also help focus the rest of the writing. Naming the audience and what they can do helps you figure out what information is important and what's extraneous.
Does the document "live up" to its intended audience and purpose?
Knowing the audience and purpose helps you judge the rest of the document. Test everything else you read against these. For example:
- If an audience doesn’t know a technical term, explain it. Example: Eligibility for your service is based on a percent of Area Median Income (AMI). Most people won’t know what this is or how to find their percent of AMI. Plain language fills in these gaps.
- If an audience doesn’t need to know a technical term, remove it. Example: You’re explaining what your organization does to the general public. You don’t need to say that your organization “promulgates rules and regulations.” Just write, “Our organization regulates.”
- Provide context the audience would need to learn or act. You’re publishing a dataset. People using or analyzing this data need definitions of fields, an explanation of when you collected it, when it was updated, and other critical details that researchers might need.
- Remove context that isn’t useful. You offer a grant for new businesses. You don’t need a long passage introducing this grant’s history and funding. Instead, just say which new businesses it is relevant to.
- Explain processes fully. You send letters to constituents explaining how to do something. A plain language approach means not leaving gaps in your instructions. If there is a form to fill out, say where they can find it. If there is a deadline, state it. If they need to provide proof, explain what qualifies as proof.
Most audiences include a “new user” segment
Your audience likely includes people who are new to whatever you’re writing about. Could they fill out your form or application the first time they see it? Will they have the background knowledge to understand the information you’re publishing, or will you need to explain more?
Test 2: Does the structure of information match the audience’s needs?
Audiences have priorities for what information is important, what order things should be written in, and what should be left out. This may be different than how the publishing organization approaches the same information.
Example
The following passage is for a laboratory certification program. Its audience is laboratory administrators who want to get their lab certified so they can work in the state.
How to get a laboratory certificate
Our organization establishes quality standards for all laboratory testing to ensure the accuracy, reliability, and timeliness of patient test results, regardless of where the test was performed.
Before a laboratory can operate in our state, it needs to get a certificate. To do this...
The first paragraph is not a priority for the audience. They want to know what they need to do to get their lab certified. A good revision would be to cut the first paragraph or move it to later in the document.
“Big picture” document organization
Think about how the whole document is organized. For example, imagine a document that has no headings at all. Would headings for each relevant audience segment help? Alternatively, you could make headings for different steps in a process.
If you do this, you may find yourself rearranging a lot of information. This may be exactly what the document needs, even if it means a lot of revising.
“Little picture” document organization
You can apply this test at the sentence level, too. As you read, ask yourself, “Does the audience care about this? Or are they still waiting to get their most important questions answered?”
Reading this way helps us cut lots of unnecessary words and sentences. Here's an example describing a program where food producers and distributers can apply for funding.
The FSIG program seeks to strengthen the Commonwealth of Massachusetts food system and build resilience within the food supply chain. Funds will support infrastructure projects that improve local food production and distribution, strengthen the middle of the food supply chain, expand food access and nutrition security, and support emergency preparedness. Eligible applicants are Massachusetts agricultural and seafood producers, processors, and distributors.
The first 2 sentences are likely not the most important to the audience. They need to know who can apply and how. We can revise to account for these priorities. We might begin with something like:
Massachusetts agricultural and seafood producers, processors, and distributors can apply for funding to improve their facilities and equipment.
The program context is either not relevant or can be moved to lower in the document.
Test 3: Can you scan the document using headings, labels, and other cues?
Features like titles and headings help readers find specific information in your documents. Other components such as labels, charts, and icons and other visual cues matter, too.
When you review for plain language, you should treat these as especially important. Most documents benefit from a lot of them, since they help people easily get an “outline” of the document. On the other hand, they may skip entire sections if headings are vague or missing.
For example, here are the headings on a Courts’ web page about jury duty in Massachusetts:
- Respond and prepare for jury duty
- Eligibility and disqualification
- Modify your service
- After you serve jury duty
- Learn more about the jury process
These clearly divides the web page into different components of jury duty. Even without visiting the page, you can tell what it covers. This helps the audience locate the section and links that are relevant to them.
Test 4: Are there too many unexplained ideas too close together?
Documents that introduce many ideas quickly create a lot of unnecessary friction for readers. Often, you can make things plainer language by providing information in small chunks. You can also recognize when an idea needs another sentence of explanation or an example.
In this example sentence, the writer combines lots of information: the name of a bill, who signed in, when she signed it, and what the bill was about.
The 2024 Climate Act, which was signed by Governor Healey in November 2024, contains comprehensive siting and permitting reforms for clean energy infrastructure.
One quick improvement is to limit how much information we introduce per sentence. That is, we can split this sentence in 2:
The 2024 Climate Act contains comprehensive siting and permitting reforms for clean energy infrastructure. It was signed by Governor Healey in November 2024.
Add phrases that help clarify relationships
Sometimes, splitting up sentences makes it clear that the relationships between pieces of information need more support. For example:
By including a firm as a subconsultant the applicant certifies that the listed firm has been advised that it was being included in the applicant's team, and it has agreed to work on this Project should the team be selected.
This sentence contains a lot of information. When we split it up, we also add phrases that clarify the relationships between this information:
You can include a firm as a subconsultant on your application. If you do, it means that you certify that this firm has been advised that it is being included on your team. It also means that the firm has agreed to work on this project if your team is selected.
Bullet lists
Bullet lists are a great way to write in smaller chunks of information. In this example, we convert a sentence that contains a list to a bullet list.
Before: Eligible individuals are those who have a physical or mental impairment that results in a substantial impediment to employment, who can benefit from vocational rehabilitation (VR) services for employment, and who require VR services.
After: You’re eligible if you:
- Have a physical or mental impairment that substantially impedes your employment
- Can benefit from vocational rehabilitation (VR) services for employment
- Require VR services
Test 5: Does the tone create unnecessary barriers?
The way we address readers has consequences for how easy our writing is to understand. In government, we sometimes write too formally. This tells most people, “This writing isn’t for you. It’s only for legal or technical experts.” However, we could say the same thing with as much authority in a more conversational tone. (And studies show that experts also much prefer clearer, more conversational writing.)
Before: Applicants are advised to apply only for those projects for which they are demonstrably qualified, as it reflects negatively on the applicant's credibility if the firm applies for every job advertised when only marginally qualified.
After: Only apply for projects you’re qualified for. It reflects poorly on your credibility if you apply for jobs you're not qualified for.
We may also write in industry speak or using much more legal jargon than we need. Both of these create barriers between documents and their audiences—especially if the audience is meant to be broad.