What is Plain Language?
- Plain language is clear and accessible communication that shares information the audience needs to know in a way that they can easily understand.
- The goal of plain language is to save your audience time and effort.
- Writing in plain language helps ensure that information is easily understood by everyone, including people with disabilities.
- Plain language is not just the words we use. Writing in plain language means thinking about how we structure information, including:
- Only including need-to-know information
- Providing the most important information first
- Writing clear paragraphs
- Using a clear and meaningful heading structure
- Breaking up content into manageable pieces (for example, using bullet points).
- Avoiding use of italics, ALL CAPS, or acronyms.
Understanding your audience
According to the International Plain Language Federation, communication is in plain language if its wording, structure, and design are so clear that the intended readers can easily:
- find what they need,
- understand what they find,
- and use that information.
This means that the audience decides if something is written in plain language. Something can be plain to one audience and not to another. It’s best practice to co-create with members of your audiences.
Plain Language at CLBC
Here are some ways that we are using plain language at CLBC:
Plain language policy summaries
- Did you know that CLBC has been creating plain language summaries for key policies? CLBC’s Policy team has been collaborating with the Service Delivery Advisors, who guide the development of these summaries, based on their lived experience.
Accessibility Plan
- One of five areas for action from CLBC’s 2023-2026 Accessibility Plan is Clear, timely communication is key.
- Increasing the availability of plain language and alternative formats is one way that we are making our communication more accessible. One action we have taken towards this is making a plain language strategy for our communications.
- We have also created plain language resources, such as the plain language information videos on our website.
Plain Language Guide for CLBC Staff
Plain language is not just the words we use. Writing in plain language means thinking about how we structure information.
CLBC has compiled this Plain Language Guide for use by CLBC staff, and anyone else who would like to use it, to support more clear and accessible communication.
Additional Information
- Visit our Accessibility page for more information about our Accessibility Plan.
- Visit our Accessibility feedback and requests page to send feedback, request an alternate format or request support from CLBC staff to explain information.
