{"id":1330,"date":"2015-12-03T10:54:24","date_gmt":"2015-12-03T10:54:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/web\/?p=1330"},"modified":"2015-12-03T08:54:54","modified_gmt":"2015-12-03T08:54:54","slug":"writing-plain-english-does-not-dumb-down-content","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/web\/2015\/12\/03\/writing-plain-english-does-not-dumb-down-content\/","title":{"rendered":"Writing Plain English Does Not Dumb Down Content"},"content":{"rendered":"

The difficulty we face as a University web team is a fear that rewriting content for the web will somehow \u2018dumb down\u2019<\/strong> the message.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cIf we write in \u2018plain English\u2019 we\u2019re in danger of making ourselves look stupid. People won\u2019t expect this from a university\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re writing for our academic peers: they understand the terms we use.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We hear these sorts of comments a lot. If you are writing for a website you need to dismiss them right now.<\/p>\n

This is not the content YOU are looking for<\/h2>\n

Anyone can visit\u00a0our website. We shouldn\u2019t be excluding audiences based on their understanding of English. Who are we to decide who can or can\u2019t access our ideas?<\/p>\n

Think about those students or (high-quality) researchers who may not have English as their first language. Don\u2019t make it hard for them to understand your content.<\/p>\n

What about those with dyslexia or those using assistive technologies (like screen readers) to access the site?<\/p>\n

And hey, what about you, wouldn\u2019t you rather read something you understood at first glance<\/strong> (even if you are a specialist in that area)?<\/p>\n

Remember:<\/p>\n

\n

No one will ever complain that you\u2019ve made things too simple to understand.
\nAnn Handley<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Plain English and why it’s important<\/h2>\n

Plain English at Newcastle University<\/h3>\n

In our Writing for the Web training we introduce the idea of using plain English<\/strong>. We encourage our content editors to:<\/p>\n