Plain English

 Plain English

Plain English is a style of presenting information that helps someone understand what they read or hear first time. By applying plain English guidelines, you will use appropriate language, detail and design to help readers quickly find the information they need. This is important for public information of course, but it is just as important for internal documents, particularly those that must be understood by all members of an organisation.

NALA's plain English support includes advice and training as well as professional editing. We also offer accreditation for clear documents.

Our plain English service offers advice, resources and editing and training. We also offer accreditation for clear documents through the Plain English Mark.

A range of organisations have used the service, including: 

• the Communications Regulator (ComReg),
• EBS Building Society,
• Dublin City Council,
• Health Service Executive,
• Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions,
• Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE), and
• Road Safety Authority.

We also produce resources for organisations such as plain English guides to legal, financial, citizenship, political and environmental terms and "Simply put", an interactive CD-ROM that features plain English tips, exercises, glossaries and sample documents.

We thought it would be useful to produce a booklet of tips to make your materials easier to read and understand, especially for adults with literacy difficulties. These people may find it hard to understand the information they need to exercise their rights and meet their obligations. It makes sense to present this information as clearly as possible to give everyone a fair opportunity to understand and act on what they read.

Plain English can help because clearer information is more likely to save time, money and possible frustration that might otherwise be involved in making repeated requests for information or clarifying misunderstandings. Plain English is a style of presenting information that helps someone understand it the first time they read or hear it. 

We hope you find this booklet useful.

Plain English guidelines at a glance - a two page summary.

This checklist offers a quick way for you to review a form to see whether it uses clear language and is easy to follow. Not all questions will apply to every form, but try to answer ‘yes’ as much as possible to the questions that do apply.

This checklist offers a quick way for you to review a letter, leaflet, booklet or short report to see if it uses plain English and is easy to follow. Not all questions will apply to every document, but try to answer ‘yes’ as much as possible to the questions that do apply.

‘Biomass’, ‘Carbon Credits’ and ‘Sustainable Development’ are just some of the terms explained in this new handy guide. Called from ‘From Air Quality to Zero Emissions’ it is hoped that the guide will explain common environmental information in a much more accessible way so that the general public can engage more in environmental issues. Developed by NALA, the A – Z guide contains over 100 explanations of common environmental terms.

This guide aims to help the public become more familiar with some of the most common political terms. We also hope it will remove some of the barriers that may currently prevent people from getting involved in political activity - whether that means voting, lobbying their local representative or joining a political party.

The guide also aims to encourage Government departments, local authorities, political parties, statutory organisations and community and voluntary groups to become more aware of the issues faced by adults with literacy difficulties and to develop more effective and sensitive responses to encourage them to become more politically active.

The language used in law is changing. There are many legal phrases that non-lawyers don’t understand. This guide is intended to help non-lawyers understand legal phrases and to give lawyers guidance in explaining the legal phrases they use. Although it comprises over 60 pages with over 1,400 words explained, this is not a complete dictionary of legal terms in use in Ireland. The explanations in this guide are not intended to be alternatives. Lawyers will continue to use legal phrases when necessary. This publication is designed to explain ideas and concepts rather than to give legal definitions.

‘Recession’, ‘Credit Crunch’, ‘Guarantee’ and ‘Subprime’ are just some of the terms explained in this handy guide developed by the National Adult Literacy Agency and EBS Building Society. The A – Z pocket guide to understanding financial terms is a free resource for the general public and financial services sector that is hoped will create a greater understanding of the obscure jargon used on a daily basis in relation to all aspects of financial products and services. Lack of plain English and jargon has been found to one of the greatest barriers to understanding financial information. The terms explained in this A – Z Guide are designed to help explain financial ideas and concepts in plain English rather than to give legal definitions. It is hoped that it will go some way to help people better understand current issues and make informed and relevant financial decisions.

Covering nearly 400 terms and produced by the National Adult Literacy Agency, ‘A Plain English Guide to Citizenship Terms’, is aimed particularly at people working in Government, political organisations and voluntary sector involved with active citizenship. The intention is to assist them to deal more effectively and sensitively with members of the public who have literacy and numeracy difficulties. It is also a resource for members of the public, helping to create a greater understanding of the jargon relating to many aspects of citizenship, used on a daily basis.

Often, language can impose barriers that prevent people from accessing power, and more frequently it can be used to exclude people and prevent them from exercising their rights and responsibilities as citizens. This publication represents an attempt to ‘demystify’ and throw light on a concept that belongs to us all. We hope that it puts into plain English the terms and concepts that people use commonly and, in so doing, help any of us who up to now may have felt excluded from debates about citizenship.