Sunday, November 14, 2010
President Obama signed the Plain Writing Act of 2010 into law on October 13, 2010. The new legislation will require federal government agencies to draw up a plain language action plan, and to train staff to write plain English, within the next 6-9 months. Under the act, documents from agencies must be in plain English: clear, concise, well-organized, and appropriate to the subject and audience.
Congressman Bruce Braley of Iowa, who sponsored the Plain Writing Act of 2010 (H.R. 946), has a press release that provides some background to the act. The press release also includes these helpful examples about how government language would change (for the better!) by using plain language:
Examples of Plain Language in Use: Before and After
Here are three before-and-after examples of how plain language was applied to federal documents to make them easier to understand. For more examples, see http://www.plainlanguage.gov.
Example #1: Medicare Fraud Letter (click link)
Example #2: FDA drug warning label (click link)
Example #3: IRS form (click links)
Congratulations to Congressman Braley, Joe Kimble, Annetta Cheek, and the Center for Plain Language for their support of this helpful legislation. Click here for more information from the Center for Plain Language.
Hat tip to Clarity.