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Re: Help With Plain Language And Learning Disabilities

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From: Tyllick,Cliff S (HHSC/DADS)
Date: Oct 31, 2016 9:05AM

Whitney, thanks for that list of references! I hadn't known about Ginny Redish's earlier articles. I'll have to read them soon!

Vanessa, I'll add a more recent article to the list. This is not scholarly, but pragmatic. It addresses especially well these points:
- Making information readable does not mean "dumbing it down."
- The reader's measured reading ability doesn't matter. For all readers, what does matter is the ability possible with the cognitive resources available, which depends on the situation as well as the reader.
- Following a specific set of techniques can help ensure that your message is accessible to the broadest set of audiences possible.

The article is Angela Colter's "The Audience You Didn't Know You Had." The original is in Contents Magazine:
http://contentsmagazine.com/articles/the-audience-you-didnt-know-you-had/index.html

And a copy, including the comments, is posted as a PDF here:
http://www.springfield.k12.or.us/cms/lib03/OR01000651/Centricity/Domain/19/Staff%20Resources/Website/Considering_Your_Content.pdf

Angela also cites 20 references. I'm not sure how much overlap there is with the group Whitney has provided or pointed to.

I have used Angela's article as the basis of a 60-minute class teaching engineers, other scientists, and regulatory officials how to write clearly. Reading this highly enjoyable article takes about 15 minutes. As I told my students, it's great to bookmark for something that is easy, refreshing, and educational--a way to accomplish something and re-energize yourself when work has numbed your mind.

Give it a try and see if you find it as helpful as my students and I did.

Cheers!

Cliff

Cliff Tyllick
EIR Accessibility Coordinator
Texas Health & Human Services Commission
512-438-2494
<EMAIL REMOVED>