1-Up Your Writing With Plain Language
Speaker: Ashley Bischoff
twitter: @handcoding
twitter: @FriendlyAshley
Slides: bit.ly/1upslides
Play Language to improve accessibility
- what makes some writing more complicated?
- Sentence Length
- Syllables
Sentence Length
- Keep sentences short if material is complicated (between 20 / 25 words average)
- Add variety ( 35 sentences & some with 3 word sentences)
Syllables
- Syllables are building blocks of words
- Sometimes long words might be unavoidable
- Accessibility has 6 syllables
How to cut Syllables
- PlanLanguage.gov has some examples: http://bit.ly/plainwords
- Example:
- prior to -> before
- 3 syllables -> 2 syllables
- I proofread the report prior to the meeting
- I proofread the report before the meeting
- in order to -> to
- 4 syllables -> 1 syllables
- Enable grayscale mode in order to see the page
- Enable gray scale to see page without colours
- accordingly / consequently -> so
- the following -> this
- however -> but
Contractions
- do not -> don’t
- cannot -> can’t
- Contractions improve readability
How to check your writing
- Readability Analyzer
- Keep your text readable, aim for Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level lower than 9
- Plain language would also makes accessibility 1. easier to apply 2. easier to “market”
Recap
- Aim for average sentece of 20-ish words
- Keep an eye for 3 / 4 syllables words
- Use contractions
- Check readability
Resources