How to write in plain language

Plain language is not simple language and it is not writing for stupid people. It is writing that a reader can understand the first time, at the speed they are actually reading, in the state they are actually in — tired, on a phone, on a bus, worried about the thing your document is about.

The people it helps most are the people most likely to be excluded: readers with dyslexia, readers with low literacy, readers whose first language is not English, readers under stress, and readers with a few minutes. It also helps everyone else, which is why governments and health services have adopted it as policy rather than as courtesy.

What actually makes text hard

Not long words alone — a familiar long word is easier than an unfamiliar short one. The real load comes from:

Sentence length and structure. A 40-word sentence with three subordinate clauses has to be held entirely in working memory before it resolves. Aim for an average of 15 to 20 words, with variety around it.

Unnecessary nominalisation. Turning verbs into nouns removes the action and usually the actor: "the implementation of the policy resulted in a reduction in applications" versus "after we changed the policy, fewer people applied". Same content, half the effort.

Passive voice where the actor matters. "Your application has been declined" hides who declined it. Sometimes that is deliberate, which is exactly the problem.

Unglossed jargon. Every field has it. The test is not whether the word is technical but whether your reader knows it.

Buried structure. A wall of text with no headings gives a reader no way in and no way to find the part that concerns them.

The moves

1. Put the main point first. Not the background, not the history — the thing the reader needs. This inverts how most professionals were trained to write.
2. Say who does what. Subject, verb, object. "You must reply by 4 May" not "a response is required by 4 May".
3. One idea per sentence. Split anything with more than two clauses.
4. Use the reader's word, not the institution's. "Doctor", not "clinician", unless the difference matters.
5. Address the reader as "you". It forces clarity about who is responsible for what.
6. Keep paragraphs short. Three to four sentences. A single-sentence paragraph is fine.
7. Use headings as questions. "How do I appeal?" is more findable than "Appeals procedure".
8. Use lists for anything with steps or conditions, but not for everything — a page of bullets loses the connections between them.
9. Explain a term the first time. Once, in a clause, then use it freely.

Formatting for accessibility

Left-align body text; justified text creates uneven word spacing that is genuinely harder for dyslexic readers. Avoid long stretches of italics or ALL CAPS, which remove word-shape cues. Keep line length to roughly 60 to 80 characters. Use real headings in order, so screen readers can navigate. Never rely on colour alone to carry meaning.

Alt text is part of this. Describe what the image conveys in context, not what is technically in it. A chart's alt text is its finding — "sales fell by a third after March" — not "a bar chart". Decorative images should have empty alt text so screen readers skip them. Do not start with "image of".

Measuring it

Readability formulas count syllables and sentence lengths. They cannot tell whether you make sense, and they can be gamed by chopping sentences into fragments. Use them as a smoke alarm, not a grade: a sudden spike usually marks a paragraph worth rereading. Many public bodies target roughly a grade 8 to 9 reading level for public-facing text.

The better test is a person. Give it to someone outside your field and ask them to tell you what they are supposed to do next.

Common mistakes

Confusing plain with patronising — plain language keeps every necessary idea, it just stops hiding them. Cutting so far that qualifications required for accuracy are lost, which matters in legal and medical writing. Replacing a precise technical term with a vague everyday one. Writing plainly in the summary and reverting to jargon in the detail. Assuming a readability score is the goal rather than a signal.

Practical tips

• Read it aloud. Anywhere you run out of breath is a sentence to split.
• Search your draft for "of the", "in order to", "with regard to", "it should be noted that" — each one is usually deletable.
• Check the average sentence length with BRYME's sentence-length checker before you send anything long.
• Write the "what you need to do" box first, then the explanation.