What plain language means for government organizations
Plain language is about your organization's ability to create documents so that constituents can:
- Find the information they need
- Complete tasks
- Understand your rules or guidance
Plain language helps people avoid call centers and support requests. It helps constituents feel that you understand their needs. Writing that's unnecessarily complicated and too formal makes constituents feel like you're not talking to them. And studies show that even experts prefer plain language, since it’s easier to scan and less taxing to read. It even makes machine translation (e.g. using Google Translate) easier.
Your staff benefits from plain language, too. Plain language supports your staff. They'll spend less time with phone calls, emails, and incomplete applications, and more time using their expertise for complex issues. In addition, research we've conducted with state organizations has repeatedly shown that staff prefer plain language documentation to answer constituent questions and help with tasks.
Note: We mean "document" broadly: Files, web pages, social media posts, letters, emails to constituents, etc.
Example scenarios: How investing in plain language helps us deliver information and services
- You're applying for benefits online. The website makes it easy for you to understand if you're eligible and what documents you'll need. You're able to fill out the application correctly the first time. You don't need to call or email for help.
- You're trying to become certified in your field. The instructions for the long, multistep process help you plan the actions you need to take. They also help you feel that someone understands that the process is difficult and wants to help you succeed.
- You're a small business owner looking to apply for a grant. The application has a lot of steps and requirements, but each is simple to navigate. You encounter technical language you don't know, but it's clearly explained. When you're done, you feel like the organization really does want to support businesses like yours.
- You're a municipal official in a small town. You want to understand the state's policy so you can make sure your town's aligns. It's easy for you to find and understand the policy. It explains technical jargon, provides illustrative examples, and links to relevant resources.
Plain language is part of the law
The 2010 Federal Plain Language Act sets guidelines for federal agencies that states can follow. Plain language is also a component of accessible products and services. Your organization may already be working to comply with Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act by the April 2026 deadline. Plain language should be part of this work.
Taking your first steps toward plain language
You can take steps toward writing in plain language at multiple levels of your organization:
- Redesign editorial processes to be iterative and collaborative
- Hire someone with the right skills
- Build existing staff's capacity to do content design
It's often helpful to do these in combination, since they build on one another.
Pilot an iterative, collaborative editorial process
Plain language in government is as much about stakeholder management as good writing. Our organizations are complicated, and so are our writing processes. You often need to account for:
- Complex, technical policies
- Legal requirements
- Business requirements
- The public perception of our organization
- Our organization's priorities and mission
A good process navigates these and still produces documents that people can find, understand, and use. Imagine the difference between these 2 processes.
Waterfall writing process
Waterfall processes include few checks and revisions. A very simple waterfall process might look like this:
- A subject matter expert (SME) drafts something
- An IT professional posts to a website
More complex waterfalls might also include checks from the legal and communications teams.
In general, a waterfall process prioritizes getting something published quickly. This comes at the cost of the reading experience. For example, it may deprioritize accessibility and plain language reviews because these slow down publishing. Unfortunately, organizations don't always connect post-publication issues with this kind of process. For example, poorly-designed documents increase support requests and incomplete application submissions. A different process might be slower but prevent these kinds of issues.
Iterative, collaborative writing process
Iterative, collaborative writing processes involve more revisions and teamwork. They take longer but result in more successful documents. A piece of the process might look like this:
- A writer interviews an SME to learn what to say, whom to say it to, and why it needs to be said now
- The writer creates a draft. The SME reviews, pointing out issues with accuracy and technical language.
- The writer incorporates some of the changes. Others make the document difficult to understand.
- The writer works with the SME to find clearer, simpler language that doesn't compromise meaning.
As with "waterfall," more complex versions of this process might include back-and-forths with legal and other teams. Collaborative, iterative writing involves more revisions, conversations, and questions about the right way to design a document. It benefits greatly from someone in a "writer" role. They usher the document through layers of approval, working to keep it focused on what its intended audience needs from it.
This process requires more work and staff. But it has major benefits for your organization. It's much more likely to catch frictions before constituents do. It's also much better at reconciling conflicting needs from internal stakeholders.
For example, imagine your legal team has a critical objection to instructions on how to fill out an application. In a waterfall process, you might just delete the offending text. In a collaborative, iterative process, the writer interviews the legal team and finds a revision that supports constituents and avoids legal risks.
We recommend you try piloting an iterative, collaborative process as soon as possible. We're happy to help design a process that fits your organization.
Invest in content design
Hiring a content designer or strategist can make a huge difference in your capacity to write in plain language. As a bonus, content strategists have other skill sets.
- Content marketing: Explain what you offer, tell your story, and reach more people
- Content management: Organize huge amounts of information. Optimize for the web. Keep things up to date with your current policies and programs.
- Technical and UX Writing: Make complicated information simple to understand and use
- Accessible design: Ensure documents and web pages meet accessibility standards.
You should also look for someone with knowledge of constituent-centered design (or human-centered design), an approach that puts constituents at the center of interactions with government. This perspective ensures the content designer advocates for constituents throughout the writing process.
Build capacity in your existing staff
Your staff can build skills to help them write or revise documents for plain language.
- Adopt a plain language review process
- Set grade level targets (readability scores) for your documents
- Join our community of practice, Content Lab, for writers in state organizations. Anyone who writes, edits, or manages content is welcome to join.
Adopt a plain language review process
Develop or adopt a plain language review process such as this one. Anytime your staff publish something, ask them to include their plain language review as one of the steps leading up to publishing.
Set readability targets
Readability scoring is a blunt proxy for plain language, but trying to reduce grade level often does help make things easier to read. Your policy does not have to be rigid. For example, you might ask staff to:
- Aim for grade 8 or less for most documents
- Aim for grade 10 or less for highly technical documents
- Prioritize reducing grade level for any document that scores at grade 12 or higher
Guidance and resources
These resources help your staff learn to write and revise plain language:
- Guide to conducting plain language reviews
- Plainlanguage.gov covers the official guidelines for the Plain Writing Act of 2010.
- The Mass.gov style guide includes guidance for producing plain language content
- Use Hemingway Editor to find ways to make your texts more plain language
- Several Content Lab sessions have focused on plain language
- Book a consult with a Mass Digital content strategist to review a piece of content for plain language