Much to celebrate, and more to do

Much to celebrate

And more to do

In case you missed it, yesterday, Oct. 13, was International Plain Language Day #IPlainDay. It was a day to celebrate success in making information easy for intended readers to read.

That’s a mouthful, but it means

• clear cellphone contracts

• short and simple credit card contracts

• user manuals that make sense to users rather than engineers

It means that you, whoever you are, should be able to read your credit card or cellphone contract ONCE and find your rate and contract term. You should be able to find this information in a short period of time, not in two or three hours.

There is much to celebrate:

• online training to improve your writing

• plain languages — people working to communicate clearly in French, German, Norwegian, Spanish, Swedish, Russian and many other languages around the world

• international standards – at least soon – to keep everyone on the same page

• research to help you know and address readers’ needs

Of course, there is more. But there is also more to do.

If you write, edit, design or create websites or apps, learn to communicate in plain language. Financial, legal, technical or government writers and designers can make your writing and design clearer and more useful. You can learn who uses your information and what they need.

If you are a consumer, you have rights. Demand them. In Canada, all banks and cellphone companies must give their customers information in plain language. My 11-page credit card contract came in the mail yesterday. Was it plain? No.

More next time.