Iso Plain Language Standard
Mike Fowler
Creating a Plain Language Standard is an important step for ISO. It will raise awareness of the importance of accessibility in written documents. This should motivate businesses to optimise their content for plain language.
The standard is language neutral. The team of experts who developed the standard come from 25 countries and speak 19 languages between them. They worked hard to ensure the standard works in their language. As a result ISO believe that the standard can be used in most languages.
Oregon law requires all state agencies to prepare public communications in language that is as clear and simple as possible (ORS 183.750). This includes publications, forms and instructions, licenses, agency notices, and administrative rules. HB 2702 specifies an additional standard for written documents. A document meets the plain language standard if it, whenever possible:
All industries and sectors benefit from improved communication. Readers benefit when they can understand and use information. And organizations gain improved branding, efficiency, and effectiveness of communications products. A plain language standard provides all sectors, in nearly all languages, with a set of guidelines and strategies to make information more accessible and effective.
The standard must be purchased from the ISO to read and use it. Organizations will be able to purchase the standard from the ISO store or your own National Standard Body (NSB). Purchasing from the NSB can be less costly when buying multiple copies, or sharing it within your organization on an intranet. Find your NSB.
The International Plain Language Federation has established a Certification Committee that is developing suitable systems and requirements to enable certification, and it will make further announcements as that develops.
Language professionals have not had a universally agreed-upon standard for creating plain language documents or for judging what is plain. This has made it difficult for people writing and designing documents to assess the quality of their processes or products.
The plain language standard (opens in new tab) developed through the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) changes all of this by providing a clear understanding of what plain language is and how you can achieve it.
The experts who wrote the standard come from 25 countries. Between them, those experts speak 19 languages and work in a wide range of roles and organizations. The experts worked hard to make sure every sentence in the standard works in their language.
ISO standards have to be purchased. The Standards Council of Canada provides reasons to explain why ISO standards are not free (opens in new tab), including the offsetting of costs and the maintaining of neutral standards.
The opinions expressed in posts and comments published on the Our Languages blog are solely those of the authors and commenters and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Language Portal of Canada.
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I acknowledge, of course, that this distinction has zero functional significance, in that most of my efforts are aimed at stripping out of contract prose that which is archaic, bloated, redundant, or inconsistent. This is a goal that plain-language advocates would recognize.
I think you are right to use the term Standard English. Some of us who teach plain language suggest a two step process for converting legalese: 1) rewrite in Standard English
2) revise in plain language.
This Plain Language Standard is a mandatory (normative) Standard. It uses conventional regulatory language. Standards Council of Canada, as governed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) guidelines, requires that standards use regulatory language so that this Standard may be classified as a National Standard of Canada.
The Plain Language Technical Committee acknowledges this regulatory language does not follow some plain language principles in this Standard. The Technical Committee is working towards a time when all standards are presented in plain language to achieve accessibility, clarity, usability, and overall effectiveness.
The purpose of the Plain Language standard is to foster clear, accessible, and inclusive communication. This will ensure that information is easily understood by everyone, including people with disabilities.
This is the first version of the standard. It was developed by the Technical Committee on Plain Language, which includes experts with disabilities. The committee operates under the supervision of Accessibility Standards Canada.
CAN-ASC-3.1 also includes additional information on various aspects of plain language communication. This information can be a valuable resource for organizations seeking to improve their communications.
This standard is a voluntary guideline. It is a major step toward helping organizations across Canada communicate more clearly and in a way that is accessible to all. It also contributes to the broader goal of achieving a Canada without barriers by 2040.
This page describes plain language contract requirements for Chapter 342 loans, Chapter 348 retail installment contracts, and home equity loans. Under Section 341.502 of the Texas Finance Code, these contracts must be written in plain language.
The Finance Commission of Texas adopted model plain language contracts. The model plain language contract provisions are found under Title 7, Part 5, Chapter 84, Subchapter H (Chapter 348 motor vehicle retail installment contracts), and Title 7, Part 5, Chapter 90 (Chapter 342 consumer loans).
If a licensee uses a contract that contains any non-standard provisions, the licensee must submit the contract to the OCCC for review. Non-standard contracts will be reviewed to determine that the contract is written in plain language. A non-standard contract must: (1) be drafted in plain language; (2) meet minimum font type and font size requirements under 7 Texas Administrative Code 84.806 and 90.103, and (3) have a Flesch-Kincaid score that does not exceed the following:
2. A copy of the non-standard contract in an Adobe Acrobat text-searchable PDF format so that the OCCC can review the contract in its entirety as presented to borrowers or retail buyers. The PDF may not be locked or restricted in any way that prohibits comparison of different versions of the contract; and
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But I'm not stuck in mud, and I believe widespread adoption of a clear communication (or plain language) standard might just create the demand for skills that our teacher trainers will be compelled to address.
In the meantime, I have teamed-up with my colleagues at Wellington Uni-Professional to create a version of my one-day Writing Essentials course just for teachers. We have split the course into four online 90-minute sessions, so teachers can attend once-a-week outside school hours. We have radically reduced the cost to make it affordable for teachers who are paid too little for the crucial work they do. And I have (foolishly!) allowed my colleagues to shoot a 90-second video of me talking about the course.
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is an independent organization that develops, publishes, and sells international standards. An ISO standard is a document that provides requirements, specifications, or guidelines to ensure the consistent quality of products and services internationally. The ISO has issued over 25,000 standards.
The ISO Plain Language Standard helps create clear, concise, and effective documents. It is based on an internationally accepted definition of plain language. It provides a set of guidelines and strategies to make information more accessible. This standard applies to most languages and sectors, and is a valuable tool for all plain language practitioners.
We continue to work on future parts of the standard. Currently, two new parts are going through the ISO process. These focus on legal communications and science writing. We have asked for feedback from our members on these two drafts. More parts are planned. If you want to know more or want to get involved, please contact us.
In 2019, the federation proposed to Standards Australia that it develop an international plain-language standard. Standards Australia decided that the standard would best be developed internationally. In June 2019, Standards Australia proposed to ISO that it develop the standard. ISO approved that proposal.
The federation has a blog telling the story of the journey to the plain-language standard.5 The blog includes a timeline from 2007 and videos of the standards-related sessions from plain- language conferences in 2020 and 2021.
To help a liaison organization form its views on drafts of the standard, it can seek input from its members, as PLAIN, Clarity, and the Center for Plain Language did during 2020 (at the time, the International Institute of Information Design had not yet been appointed as a liaison organization).
Although the plain-language standard may evolve to become a mandatory standard, for now it will be a standard for guidance. Any ISO project to make the plain-language standard mandatory would go through the same expert-driven, consensus-seeking process that the current standard for guidance is undergoing.
To help ease the way for the pending standard, the federation has a standard-localization committee. The committee, chaired by Gael Spivak of Canada, is seeking to work with plain-language practitioners in as many countries as possible to help them engage with their national standards body and work to localize the standard to make it suit their languages, their culture, and the like.10
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