In Australia today, 44% of adults have low literacy. This may be due to poor educational outcomes, English as a second language, disability, or ageing. Easy English (also known as Easy Read) is a style of writing that makes concepts and key messages easy to understand and read. It assists people with low literacy to access information that is important to them. Easy English focuses on presenting k
ey messages, rather than all the detail. Images are used alongside concepts to assist the reader with comprehension. Plain English is a clear style of writing that uses only the number of words necessary to convey a message. Plain English avoids jargon, complex or technical language and complicated sentence structures. For a complete communications package, any business that has customers who have low literacy should consider providing communication materials in these formats. Not only will you be ensuring you are reaching the largest audience possible you will be acknowledging everyone's right to receive information in a meaningful way.
