November 13, 2023 • 16 mins
This month, we speak with the Director of Advocacy for the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, Zoe Gross, all about plain language; what it is, why it's important and where and how to ask for it.
Access the transcript of this episode here.
Acceda a la transcripción en español.
"Get things out of the subtext of what you’re saying and into the plain text." —Zoe Gross
"Become awake to the wonderful world that is plain language and spot all the places that it can be brought into your life." —Zoe Gross
Resources in this episode:
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Chris Berstler (00:03):
Welcome to the sibling Leadership Network
podcast. The sibling LeadershipNetwork is a national nonprofit
whose mission is to providesiblings of individuals with
disabilities, the information,support and tools to advocate
with their brothers and sisters,and to promote the issue is
important to us and our entirefamilies. Hello, and thank you
(00:23):
for joining us for anotherepisode of the sibling
Leadership Network Podcast.
Today we're talking about plainlanguage, what it is, how to ask
for it, and when to use it. I'mjoined today by the Director of
Advocacy for the Autistic SelfAdvocacy Network. Zoe Gross.
Zoe, thank you so much forjoining us today.
Zoe Gross (00:42):
Thank you for having me.
Chris Berstler (00:43):
Please tell us about yourself and what led you
to your current work?
Zoe Gross (00:47):
Sure. So I'm an autistic self advocate working
in the field of disabilitypolicy. I've been doing
disability policy work since Imoved to DC and 2014. And I've
been with ASAN for the last sixyears, although I did some
volunteer work with it as atback in 2011. So I've been with
them for a pretty long time, ifyou count that. I'm just
(01:08):
passionate about making policyaccessible, getting more people
are involved in policy,advocacy, and civic engagement,
and really empowering peoplewith disabilities to make policy
changes.
Chris Berstler (01:20):
So what is plain language? And why is it so
important?
Zoe Gross (01:25):
Sure. So plain language is a way of writing
that is more accessible topeople with intellectual and
developmental disabilities. Andnot only to people with IDD, but
also to people with otherlanguage processing disabilities
or English language learners aswell. Plain language uses a
lower reading grade level, ituses simpler sentence structure,
(01:46):
shorter sentences, shorterwords, more common words rather
than less frequently used words.
Those are some of the featuresof plain language. ASN offers a
training that will go througheight features of plant
language. And I'm not going toget into detail of breakdown
each one right here. But you canaccess that training online. And
we offer it every year as well.
Chris Berstler (02:05):
So why is plain language so important?
Zoe Gross (02:09):
Sure. So plain language is a way to make
information accessible. Andaccess to information is really
critical, to give people thepower to take policy into their
own hands or even to understandthings about their lives. So for
example, we have a resource onMedicaid and how Medicaid works
(02:29):
and what Medicaid waivers are.
And that was really useful whenMedicaid funding was being
debated. So that people who areMedicaid beneficiaries can
understand how is this programthat I depend on funded? And
what are the arguments peopleare having about how it should
be funded? And how can I getinvolved in that policy
discussion and help influenceit. So that this program that I
depend on can continue just toempower someone to understand
(02:54):
why the things in their life arethe way they are? And then what
they can do about it? Those arereally powerful, important
things.
Chris Berstler (03:03):
Do you have an example of plain language?
Zoe Gross (03:06):
Sure. So if you go to a ASAN website, you can see all
of our plain language resourcesand our resource library. And
one of the first pages that willcome up is our plain language
resources on COVID-19. And ifyou go and look at those, you'll
see many different topics aboutCOVID explained in plain
language, our most recent onebreaks down what long COVID is.
(03:29):
And we have more coming out inthe coming months. And those we
just felt were really importantbecause especially in the early
days of COVID, when there was somuch that we didn't know and it
was so critical to disseminatethe information that we did have
a lot of information was comingout in inaccessible ways. And we
felt it was really important totranslate it into something that
(03:50):
more people could understand. Sothat's why we have those,
Chris Berstler (03:53):
when can or should we use plain language?
Zoe Gross (03:57):
I think we can use plain language basically all the
time. And we should. That's notto say we should never write in
formal or academic language. ButI feel that a plain language
version of a formal languageresource is always welcome and
appropriate. I think it'sespecially critical to write in
plain language when you'rewriting for a general audience.
And especially if you're writingon topics that affect people
(04:17):
with disabilities, because youwant people to be able to access
information that's about them.
You know, in the self advocacymovement, we say nothing about
us without us. And for too longpeople with disabilities have
been excluded from conversationsabout disability policy,
disability research, byinaccessible language that's
used in those fields. And wewant to make sure that people
with disabilities can beincluded in those conversations
(04:40):
and start to influence thoseareas. And in order to do that
plain language is a reallycritical aspect of that.
Chris Berstler (04:48):
Who can ask for plain language?
Zoe Gross (04:51):
I think anyone can ask for a plain language. If you
know that something is going tobe used by people with
disabilities and you're spottingaccess barriers. A great thing
to do would be to raise it withthe people who wrote something
or offering a resource and say,Can we put this in plain
language? Or is there a moreplain language version of this
we could offer? It's certainlysomething that people with
(05:12):
disabilities can ask for as areasonable accommodation. But
it's also something that you canask for, as an ally to people
with disabilities.
Chris Berstler (05:19):
Where can we ask for plain language,
Zoe Gross (05:22):
if you see, for example, a public health agency
or a university or even yourworkplace offering a written
resource, and it is confusing,and you find it written in very
dense language are using a lotof uncommon words, those might
be some examples of accessbarriers and a written document.
And that's a great place to askfor plain language. I find if
(05:47):
you're looking at a documentthat like one person working
alone has written, that personmay not have the resources to do
the translation, you can stillask them is there any way you
can put this in plain language,but where I find you get the
most leverage is with like anorganization that has put out a
resource and organization islikely to have more resources
that they can devote totranslation?
Chris Berstler (06:07):
Thank you. So that leads me to my next
question, how do we ask forplain language.
Zoe Gross (06:14):
So there are several ways you can do this. You can
say, I'm asking for this as areasonable accommodation for my
disability. The ADEA means thatwe are entitled to reasonable
accommodations in manycircumstances. Plain Language
isn't something that is thoughtof as like stock standard under
the ADEA in the same way thatsome architectural features are.
(06:34):
But it is certainly an exampleof an ADA reasonable
accommodation that you canrequest. You can also just bring
data, bring information and say,did you know that for something
to be accessible to the generalpublic, not even bringing in
people with disabilities, butjust the general public? It
should be at a six to eighthgrade reading level or lower? If
(06:57):
we want to reach the most peoplepossible? We should put this in
plainer language.
Chris Berstler (07:02):
Does ASAN have any resources available to help
creators out there use plainlanguage?
Zoe Gross (07:08):
Yes, we do. So we have a written resource that's
devoted to writing an easy read.
Easy read is a differentaccessible format. That is uses
a little bit simpler languagethan plain language. And it's
also picture assisted, we're notgoing to get into easy read much
in this conversation. But we dohave that resource available.
It's called one idea per line.
And then, every year we do aseries of webinars with Sarthak,
(07:30):
which is the self advocacyresources and technical
assistance center, where webreak down the basics of plain
language and easy read in thesewebinars. In our plain language
webinar, we really thoroughlycover the eight features of
plain language and give examplesof each and give examples of
people getting it wrong and howto get it right. They're
interactive webinars. So peoplecan come and say, Oh, what about
(07:52):
this, or I think in thatexample, the person has done
this wrong, and here's how Iwould fix it, and just start to
flex those plain languagemuscles. We have finished our
row in our series for the year,but you can see recordings at
self advocacy info.org. Andthat's where you can access our
webinars. Currently, we alsooffer custom trainings for
groups or agencies. If folkswant to reach out to us to
(08:17):
access our trainings,
Chris Berstler (08:18):
some critics of plain language say that plain
language possibly lessens thevalue of written content, and
has the potential to insultprofessional readers. How would
you answer this criticism? Ithink
Zoe Gross (08:30):
those are two very interesting criticisms. I would
say that the point of writteninformation is to communicate
something to someone. And themore people who can understand
what you're saying, the betteryou're doing at conveying
information. And if there areaccess barriers with your
writing, and that includeswriting in formal language that
(08:51):
not everyone can understand. Youcould be doing a better job
conveying information. Instead,you're putting up roadblocks in
the way of information. So interms of the value of language,
I would say language is at itsmost valuable when we are
communicating informationbetween each other and the best
way possible. And the best waypossible is the most inclusive
way possible. In terms of theidea that plain language is
(09:12):
insulting to people who can readat an academic level. I don't
really understand that idea. Ifeel like it's like saying this
door has a wheelchair ramp up toit but no stairs. That's
insulting to me because I couldwalk up the stairs but there are
no stairs there. So now I haveto walk up the wheelchair ramp
(09:32):
that people who use wheelchairsalso use that insults me. I
don't I don't understand that somuch. I feel like you if you are
able to use plain language, thenit's not a hardship to do so. I
understand that it is differentand it takes getting used to.
Plain language writing forexample, is often more blunt
than writing in formal languageand it can be jarring to people
(09:55):
at first. But the difference isof plain language. It doesn't
make it bad. It just makes itnot the way that you're used to
seeing information presented.
Something that you don't expectuntil you start working with
plain language is the way thatformal language is set up to
hide things. Something that'swritten in passive voice, for
example, is set up to hide whois doing something. So if you
say Mistakes were made, it hidesthe fact that you are the person
(10:17):
that made the mistakes. That'sjust an example of ways that
more inaccessible writingstructures can be used to take
out information. So writing andlanguage, we often have to say
things like this governmentagency caused this problem or to
not provide this access featureis breaking the law, or similar
(10:39):
things like at end things, whenpeople read that they say that's
very harsh. Or Or like, it'svery blunt, it's it's not how I
would usually see thatinformation presented. But
really, the way it wouldnormally be presented is
implying that same thing, butnot stating it. And implying
stuff doesn't work so well foran audience of people with
(11:01):
intellectual developmentaldisabilities. Because what you
want to get get things out ofthe subtext of what you're
saying and into the plain textand make it more accessible. So
that's one reason why plainlanguage can be a little more
blunt. I have heard from peoplewho say that they find
information written academicallymore accessible to them
personally than information inplain language. I don't think
(11:21):
that's like a problem or afailing of that person. But I do
think both should be availableto people. And I don't think
plain language in itself is likean insult to readers.
Chris Berstler (11:34):
What tips can you give any creators listening
who want to start using plainlanguage in their content,
Zoe Gross (11:40):
there are several tips I would give one is to
start with as hands webinars onplain language, which we've
spoken earlier about you canfind at self advocacy info.org.
And learn the eight features ofplain language, which include
using shorter sentences andparagraphs using more common
words speaking in astraightforward way, so avoiding
things like sarcasm, orunexplained metaphors, avoiding
(12:03):
passive voice and other similarprinciples. I would also
recommend learning by example.
So finding some plain languageresources, reading them, noting
how they do things a little bitdifferently than resources
written in more formal language.
And then just practice, it'sokay to dive right in and like,
go find something on theinternet that's written formal
(12:25):
language, even like a newsarticle, look through it and
say, Where could this be moreplain language? Where are the
words being used that areuncommon, and people are less
likely to know? Where are thephrases that can be simplified?
Where's the convoluted sentencestructure, where's the passive
voice where all the things thatI could change in this and you
know, get started that way, it'sreally fine to just experiment
(12:48):
and jump right in. And it's aniterative process, you'll get
better at it as you go, I wouldjust give the tip that writing
in plain language, your stuffcan get longer. This confuses
people, they often expect stuffto get shorter. But part of
writing in plain language can beadding in information that
wasn't in your originaldocument. But that is useful
background information forpeople who are approaching a
(13:09):
topic for the first time. Sothat can add a lot of length,
Chris Berstler (13:13):
in your opinion, is plain language a civil right.
Zoe Gross (13:17):
I think so plain language is an access issue. And
I feel that people withdisabilities have the civil
right to access to information.
And that includes plain languagefor many people.
Chris Berstler (13:27):
What are some current issues within the plain
language movement,
Zoe Gross (13:31):
I feel like as plain language becomes more recognized
and and more people areinterested in it, especially in
the disability field, it'sreally important to emphasize
that self advocates should beinvolved in the creation of
plain language resources. AtASEAN, we have worked closely
with many self advocates withintellectual disabilities, to
(13:53):
help us focus group and edit areplain language and easy read
content. And we've learned a lotabout how to write in those
styles from our editors. We'velearned a lot about how
information can be presented ina way that's most accessible to
them, how to present how tostructure the definition of the
term they don't know, forexample, or where to put
(14:14):
definitions of vocabulary termsin a document. All of these are
examples of things that we havechanged our approach to because
of the guidance of our editors.
So I feel like that review stepis really important. There are
also more and more people withdisabilities who are learning to
be playing language writersourselves. And part of what ASN
does through StarTAC is helptrain people with disabilities
in these skills. So if you'relooking for someone to do plain
(14:37):
language translation for you,maybe reach out to a local self
advocacy group and see if that'sthe service they offer. Self
Advocates Becoming Empoweredalso have some plan language
resources, I believe availableon their website. Yeah, there's
lots of places to find resourceson this. If you're a journalist
or reporter I recommend theplain truth project at plain
truth project.org which isspecifically a collaboration
(14:57):
between reporters and Pa Well,disability is focusing on
encouraging plain languagereporting. And and that's kind
of like a new field that peoplehave started to explore,
especially when their reportingfocuses on people with
disabilities, and is just anexciting development that I'm
happy to see
Chris Berstler (15:18):
how can listeners get involved and help
to make sure plain language isavailable in their own
communities?
Zoe Gross (15:26):
Yeah, so I would just say using the steps we've
already discussed, learn, tryplain language for yourself.
Start noticing where academiclanguage is used and where
things could be translated.
Start requesting plain languageand places where you think it
should be made available eitherbecause of resources for the
general public or specificallyfor people with disabilities,
become awake to the wonderfulworld that is plain language and
spot all the places that it canbe brought into your life.
Chris Berstler (15:51):
All right, thank you so much. So it's been a
pleasure speaking with you andlearning so much about plain
language. any resources thatZoey has mentioned during the
podcast can be found in thisdescription below. Zoe, thank
you so much for being with ustoday.
Zoe Gross (16:04):
Thank you for having me. It was great talking about
plain language.
Chris Berstler (16:08):
Find resources, tools and information about the
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Leadership Network is anonprofit, and we rely on
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homepage and contribute to theever growing sibling movement.
Welcome to the sibling Leadership Network
podcast. The sibling LeadershipNetwork is a national nonprofit
whose mission is to providesiblings of individuals with
disabilities, the information,support and tools to advocate
with their brothers and sisters,and to promote the issue is
important to us and our entirefamilies. Hello, and thank you
(00:23):
for joining us for anotherepisode of the sibling
Leadership Network Podcast.
Today we're talking about plainlanguage, what it is, how to ask
for it, and when to use it. I'mjoined today by the Director of
Advocacy for the Autistic SelfAdvocacy Network. Zoe Gross.
Zoe, thank you so much forjoining us today.
Zoe Gross (00:42):
Thank you for having me.
Chris Berstler (00:43):
Please tell us about yourself and what led you
to your current work?
Zoe Gross (00:47):
Sure. So I'm an autistic self advocate working
in the field of disabilitypolicy. I've been doing
disability policy work since Imoved to DC and 2014. And I've
been with ASAN for the last sixyears, although I did some
volunteer work with it as atback in 2011. So I've been with
them for a pretty long time, ifyou count that. I'm just
(01:08):
passionate about making policyaccessible, getting more people
are involved in policy,advocacy, and civic engagement,
and really empowering peoplewith disabilities to make policy
changes.
Chris Berstler (01:20):
So what is plain language? And why is it so
important?
Zoe Gross (01:25):
Sure. So plain language is a way of writing
that is more accessible topeople with intellectual and
developmental disabilities. Andnot only to people with IDD, but
also to people with otherlanguage processing disabilities
or English language learners aswell. Plain language uses a
lower reading grade level, ituses simpler sentence structure,
(01:46):
shorter sentences, shorterwords, more common words rather
than less frequently used words.
Those are some of the featuresof plain language. ASN offers a
training that will go througheight features of plant
language. And I'm not going toget into detail of breakdown
each one right here. But you canaccess that training online. And
we offer it every year as well.
Chris Berstler (02:05):
So why is plain language so important?
Zoe Gross (02:09):
Sure. So plain language is a way to make
information accessible. Andaccess to information is really
critical, to give people thepower to take policy into their
own hands or even to understandthings about their lives. So for
example, we have a resource onMedicaid and how Medicaid works
(02:29):
and what Medicaid waivers are.
And that was really useful whenMedicaid funding was being
debated. So that people who areMedicaid beneficiaries can
understand how is this programthat I depend on funded? And
what are the arguments peopleare having about how it should
be funded? And how can I getinvolved in that policy
discussion and help influenceit. So that this program that I
depend on can continue just toempower someone to understand
(02:54):
why the things in their life arethe way they are? And then what
they can do about it? Those arereally powerful, important
things.
Chris Berstler (03:03):
Do you have an example of plain language?
Zoe Gross (03:06):
Sure. So if you go to a ASAN website, you can see all
of our plain language resourcesand our resource library. And
one of the first pages that willcome up is our plain language
resources on COVID-19. And ifyou go and look at those, you'll
see many different topics aboutCOVID explained in plain
language, our most recent onebreaks down what long COVID is.
(03:29):
And we have more coming out inthe coming months. And those we
just felt were really importantbecause especially in the early
days of COVID, when there was somuch that we didn't know and it
was so critical to disseminatethe information that we did have
a lot of information was comingout in inaccessible ways. And we
felt it was really important totranslate it into something that
(03:50):
more people could understand. Sothat's why we have those,
Chris Berstler (03:53):
when can or should we use plain language?
Zoe Gross (03:57):
I think we can use plain language basically all the
time. And we should. That's notto say we should never write in
formal or academic language. ButI feel that a plain language
version of a formal languageresource is always welcome and
appropriate. I think it'sespecially critical to write in
plain language when you'rewriting for a general audience.
And especially if you're writingon topics that affect people
(04:17):
with disabilities, because youwant people to be able to access
information that's about them.
You know, in the self advocacymovement, we say nothing about
us without us. And for too longpeople with disabilities have
been excluded from conversationsabout disability policy,
disability research, byinaccessible language that's
used in those fields. And wewant to make sure that people
with disabilities can beincluded in those conversations
(04:40):
and start to influence thoseareas. And in order to do that
plain language is a reallycritical aspect of that.
Chris Berstler (04:48):
Who can ask for plain language?
Zoe Gross (04:51):
I think anyone can ask for a plain language. If you
know that something is going tobe used by people with
disabilities and you're spottingaccess barriers. A great thing
to do would be to raise it withthe people who wrote something
or offering a resource and say,Can we put this in plain
language? Or is there a moreplain language version of this
we could offer? It's certainlysomething that people with
(05:12):
disabilities can ask for as areasonable accommodation. But
it's also something that you canask for, as an ally to people
with disabilities.
Chris Berstler (05:19):
Where can we ask for plain language,
Zoe Gross (05:22):
if you see, for example, a public health agency
or a university or even yourworkplace offering a written
resource, and it is confusing,and you find it written in very
dense language are using a lotof uncommon words, those might
be some examples of accessbarriers and a written document.
And that's a great place to askfor plain language. I find if
(05:47):
you're looking at a documentthat like one person working
alone has written, that personmay not have the resources to do
the translation, you can stillask them is there any way you
can put this in plain language,but where I find you get the
most leverage is with like anorganization that has put out a
resource and organization islikely to have more resources
that they can devote totranslation?
Chris Berstler (06:07):
Thank you. So that leads me to my next
question, how do we ask forplain language.
Zoe Gross (06:14):
So there are several ways you can do this. You can
say, I'm asking for this as areasonable accommodation for my
disability. The ADEA means thatwe are entitled to reasonable
accommodations in manycircumstances. Plain Language
isn't something that is thoughtof as like stock standard under
the ADEA in the same way thatsome architectural features are.
(06:34):
But it is certainly an exampleof an ADA reasonable
accommodation that you canrequest. You can also just bring
data, bring information and say,did you know that for something
to be accessible to the generalpublic, not even bringing in
people with disabilities, butjust the general public? It
should be at a six to eighthgrade reading level or lower? If
(06:57):
we want to reach the most peoplepossible? We should put this in
plainer language.
Chris Berstler (07:02):
Does ASAN have any resources available to help
creators out there use plainlanguage?
Zoe Gross (07:08):
Yes, we do. So we have a written resource that's
devoted to writing an easy read.
Easy read is a differentaccessible format. That is uses
a little bit simpler languagethan plain language. And it's
also picture assisted, we're notgoing to get into easy read much
in this conversation. But we dohave that resource available.
It's called one idea per line.
And then, every year we do aseries of webinars with Sarthak,
(07:30):
which is the self advocacyresources and technical
assistance center, where webreak down the basics of plain
language and easy read in thesewebinars. In our plain language
webinar, we really thoroughlycover the eight features of
plain language and give examplesof each and give examples of
people getting it wrong and howto get it right. They're
interactive webinars. So peoplecan come and say, Oh, what about
(07:52):
this, or I think in thatexample, the person has done
this wrong, and here's how Iwould fix it, and just start to
flex those plain languagemuscles. We have finished our
row in our series for the year,but you can see recordings at
self advocacy info.org. Andthat's where you can access our
webinars. Currently, we alsooffer custom trainings for
groups or agencies. If folkswant to reach out to us to
(08:17):
access our trainings,
Chris Berstler (08:18):
some critics of plain language say that plain
language possibly lessens thevalue of written content, and
has the potential to insultprofessional readers. How would
you answer this criticism? Ithink
Zoe Gross (08:30):
those are two very interesting criticisms. I would
say that the point of writteninformation is to communicate
something to someone. And themore people who can understand
what you're saying, the betteryou're doing at conveying
information. And if there areaccess barriers with your
writing, and that includeswriting in formal language that
(08:51):
not everyone can understand. Youcould be doing a better job
conveying information. Instead,you're putting up roadblocks in
the way of information. So interms of the value of language,
I would say language is at itsmost valuable when we are
communicating informationbetween each other and the best
way possible. And the best waypossible is the most inclusive
way possible. In terms of theidea that plain language is
(09:12):
insulting to people who can readat an academic level. I don't
really understand that idea. Ifeel like it's like saying this
door has a wheelchair ramp up toit but no stairs. That's
insulting to me because I couldwalk up the stairs but there are
no stairs there. So now I haveto walk up the wheelchair ramp
(09:32):
that people who use wheelchairsalso use that insults me. I
don't I don't understand that somuch. I feel like you if you are
able to use plain language, thenit's not a hardship to do so. I
understand that it is differentand it takes getting used to.
Plain language writing forexample, is often more blunt
than writing in formal languageand it can be jarring to people
(09:55):
at first. But the difference isof plain language. It doesn't
make it bad. It just makes itnot the way that you're used to
seeing information presented.
Something that you don't expectuntil you start working with
plain language is the way thatformal language is set up to
hide things. Something that'swritten in passive voice, for
example, is set up to hide whois doing something. So if you
say Mistakes were made, it hidesthe fact that you are the person
(10:17):
that made the mistakes. That'sjust an example of ways that
more inaccessible writingstructures can be used to take
out information. So writing andlanguage, we often have to say
things like this governmentagency caused this problem or to
not provide this access featureis breaking the law, or similar
(10:39):
things like at end things, whenpeople read that they say that's
very harsh. Or Or like, it'svery blunt, it's it's not how I
would usually see thatinformation presented. But
really, the way it wouldnormally be presented is
implying that same thing, butnot stating it. And implying
stuff doesn't work so well foran audience of people with
(11:01):
intellectual developmentaldisabilities. Because what you
want to get get things out ofthe subtext of what you're
saying and into the plain textand make it more accessible. So
that's one reason why plainlanguage can be a little more
blunt. I have heard from peoplewho say that they find
information written academicallymore accessible to them
personally than information inplain language. I don't think
(11:21):
that's like a problem or afailing of that person. But I do
think both should be availableto people. And I don't think
plain language in itself is likean insult to readers.
Chris Berstler (11:34):
What tips can you give any creators listening
who want to start using plainlanguage in their content,
Zoe Gross (11:40):
there are several tips I would give one is to
start with as hands webinars onplain language, which we've
spoken earlier about you canfind at self advocacy info.org.
And learn the eight features ofplain language, which include
using shorter sentences andparagraphs using more common
words speaking in astraightforward way, so avoiding
things like sarcasm, orunexplained metaphors, avoiding
(12:03):
passive voice and other similarprinciples. I would also
recommend learning by example.
So finding some plain languageresources, reading them, noting
how they do things a little bitdifferently than resources
written in more formal language.
And then just practice, it'sokay to dive right in and like,
go find something on theinternet that's written formal
(12:25):
language, even like a newsarticle, look through it and
say, Where could this be moreplain language? Where are the
words being used that areuncommon, and people are less
likely to know? Where are thephrases that can be simplified?
Where's the convoluted sentencestructure, where's the passive
voice where all the things thatI could change in this and you
know, get started that way, it'sreally fine to just experiment
(12:48):
and jump right in. And it's aniterative process, you'll get
better at it as you go, I wouldjust give the tip that writing
in plain language, your stuffcan get longer. This confuses
people, they often expect stuffto get shorter. But part of
writing in plain language can beadding in information that
wasn't in your originaldocument. But that is useful
background information forpeople who are approaching a
(13:09):
topic for the first time. Sothat can add a lot of length,
Chris Berstler (13:13):
in your opinion, is plain language a civil right.
Zoe Gross (13:17):
I think so plain language is an access issue. And
I feel that people withdisabilities have the civil
right to access to information.
And that includes plain languagefor many people.
Chris Berstler (13:27):
What are some current issues within the plain
language movement,
Zoe Gross (13:31):
I feel like as plain language becomes more recognized
and and more people areinterested in it, especially in
the disability field, it'sreally important to emphasize
that self advocates should beinvolved in the creation of
plain language resources. AtASEAN, we have worked closely
with many self advocates withintellectual disabilities, to
(13:53):
help us focus group and edit areplain language and easy read
content. And we've learned a lotabout how to write in those
styles from our editors. We'velearned a lot about how
information can be presented ina way that's most accessible to
them, how to present how tostructure the definition of the
term they don't know, forexample, or where to put
(14:14):
definitions of vocabulary termsin a document. All of these are
examples of things that we havechanged our approach to because
of the guidance of our editors.
So I feel like that review stepis really important. There are
also more and more people withdisabilities who are learning to
be playing language writersourselves. And part of what ASN
does through StarTAC is helptrain people with disabilities
in these skills. So if you'relooking for someone to do plain
(14:37):
language translation for you,maybe reach out to a local self
advocacy group and see if that'sthe service they offer. Self
Advocates Becoming Empoweredalso have some plan language
resources, I believe availableon their website. Yeah, there's
lots of places to find resourceson this. If you're a journalist
or reporter I recommend theplain truth project at plain
truth project.org which isspecifically a collaboration
(14:57):
between reporters and Pa Well,disability is focusing on
encouraging plain languagereporting. And and that's kind
of like a new field that peoplehave started to explore,
especially when their reportingfocuses on people with
disabilities, and is just anexciting development that I'm
happy to see
Chris Berstler (15:18):
how can listeners get involved and help
to make sure plain language isavailable in their own
communities?
Zoe Gross (15:26):
Yeah, so I would just say using the steps we've
already discussed, learn, tryplain language for yourself.
Start noticing where academiclanguage is used and where
things could be translated.
Start requesting plain languageand places where you think it
should be made available eitherbecause of resources for the
general public or specificallyfor people with disabilities,
become awake to the wonderfulworld that is plain language and
spot all the places that it canbe brought into your life.
Chris Berstler (15:51):
All right, thank you so much. So it's been a
pleasure speaking with you andlearning so much about plain
language. any resources thatZoey has mentioned during the
podcast can be found in thisdescription below. Zoe, thank
you so much for being with ustoday.
Zoe Gross (16:04):
Thank you for having me. It was great talking about
plain language.
Chris Berstler (16:08):
Find resources, tools and information about the
sibling experience on siblingleadership.org. The sibling
Leadership Network is anonprofit, and we rely on
support from our audience. Findthe donation button on our
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