HowNALA’sPlainEnglishTrainingisbeing appliedinWaterfordandWexford.
Whywecreatedthisbooklet
In2024WWETB’sRegionalLiteracyCoordinator,organisedplainEnglishtraining for75 participantsinWaterfordandWexford. ThistrainingwasdeliveredbytheNationalAdultLiteracy Agency(NALA)andfundedbyAdultLiteracyforLife.
WWETBisdelightedtohighlighttheprogressbeingmadeintheregiontoimplementplain English. Thisbookletillustrateshowparticipants,acrossWaterfordandWexford,areapplyingtheir learningandimprovingtheircommunicationsusingplainEnglishguidelines. Thebookletspotlightsprogress–therearealwaysimprovementswecanmake. WWETBhopes thesesamplesandtestimonies:
inspireyoutolearnaboutplainEnglish, encourageyoutoapplyplainEnglishguidelines, supportyoutochampionplainEnglishinyourorganisation,and helpyoubecomeamoreliteracyfriendlyorganisation.
WhatisplainEnglish
Acommunicationisinplainlanguage...
‘...ifitswording,structure,anddesignaresoclearthattheintendedreaderscaneasilyfindwhattheyneed,understand whattheyfind,andusethatinformation.’
AdvantagesofplainEnglish
Itmakesgoodbusiness
UsingplainEnglishsavesyoutimeandmoney. Itincreasesthechancethateveryonewillunderstandyourmessage,which savestimeandavoidsmisunderstandings.
It’seffective
WhenyouuseplainEnglish,yourreadercanbetterunderstandyourinformation. Organisationswanttocommunicatewell, andpeopleaccessingyourservicewantinformationthatisquickandeasytounderstand.
It’sfair
WhenyouuseplainEnglish,morepeoplecanunderstandyourinformationandmakeinformedjudgements. Mostpeople donotwanttobeforcedtoreadmaterialmorethanoncetounderstandthemessageanddecidewhattodonext. Thisis importantforpeoplewhomaystrugglewithreadingandunderstandinginformation.
Source:NALAandInternationalPlainLanguageFederation
UseplainEnglishtoensureyourorganisationismore accessibletopeoplewithunmetliteracyneeds.
ApplicationofplainEnglish inWaterfordandWexford
ElizO’Halloran WWETB
Whatisdifferent?
netaKiedrowska WWETB
IuseactivevoicewhenIcan,anditisappropriatetouseit.
Yourabsencehasbeenamendedtoself-certifiedsickleave.
Instead,Iuse:
Ichangedyourabsencetoself-certifiedsickleave.
Iammorepersonal Anemailwassenttoyouon25March2025.
Instead,Iuse: Isentyouanemailon25March2025.
Iuseeverydaywordsmoreoften
Youremploymentcommencedon06September2024.
Instead,Iuse: Yourcontractstartedon06September2024.
LisaBrennan WWETB
Whatisdifferent?
LouiseMurphy WWETB
SampletypeofemailwrittenbeforeplainEnglishtraining
HiMargaret,
IwasjustlookingthroughtheteamsandnoticedthattheSignsofADHDintheclassroomoneandtwoarerestricted access?SoIcantgetintoreadthem.
Kindestregards, Louise
SampletypeofemailwrittenafterplainEnglishtraining
HiMargaret Ihopeyouarewell.
Ihavebeenusingthelaptopswithdifferentstudentsoverthelastfewdaysandwehavehadsomeissues: Twolaptopswouldnotallowotheruserstologin;IleftthemwithJanainreception. Weneedtousethesoundastherearelisteningsectionsintheironlinesupportandthesoundwouldnotworkonone. Theinternetwasextremelyslowonallofthem.
WewillbeusingthemonMondaysandFridaysforthenextfewweeks. Canyouhavesomeonecheckthembeforethenplease? Anyqueriesatall,pleasejustletmeknow.
Kindestregards,
Whatisdifferent?
ChristinaManning LAIT,WaterfordCityand
CountyCouncil
‘Ifoundthetrainingextremelyhelpful. ThisleafletcontainsplainEnglishtechniques,suchasthe useofclearimages,graphicsandbarcodestoourwebsites. Wetriedtoimplementthetraining whencreatingthisdocument.’
ChristinaManning
SuzanneNolan HSESocialInclusion SouthEast
OriginalEnglishScriptreRSV:
FromthisSeptembertotheendofFebruarynextyear,allmotherswillbeofferedaneedlefortheir newbornbabiestoprotectthemagainstRSV.RSVisaveryseriousvirusthatcanmakenewborn babiesverysick,with1in2babiesgettingRSVinthefirstyearoflife.WeknowRomababiesmayhave ahigherriskofgettingRSVduetoovercrowding.Soit’simportantweprotectthemasmuchaswe can.Theviruscanmakeithardforbabiestobreathe,withsomebabiesneedingtogotothehospital andcouldendupinintensivecare.Theneedleisveryeffectiveandsafe.Itisnotalivevaccineandwill protectyourbabyforsixmonths.Theneedlewillbeofferedtomothersinthematernitywardafteryou havegivenbirth.Theneedleisdonejustonceintothebaby’slegandwillprotectthemoverthe wintertime,whenRSVisatitshighest.Ifyouhaveanyquestions,askyourmidwifeatthehospitalfor moreinformation.YoucanalsocontacttheCairdeRomaInfoLineon0871264606forinformation.
RevisedScriptusingplainEnglish
CollatedRSVresourcesforTravellers,Romaandmigrantsincludingtranslatedresources.
Inthisshortvideo,wewilltalkabouthowyoucanprotectyourbabyfromaseriousviruscalledRSV.Afteryougivebirth,yourmidwifeordoctorwillaskyouifyou wouldlikeyourbabytoreceiveamedicinetoprotectyourbaby.Ifyousayyes,yourbabywillreceivethemedicineinaninjection.
WhatisRSV?
RSV(respiratorysyncytialvirus)isacommonvirusthatcausescoughsandcolds.Itisthemaincauseofseriousbreathingdifficultiesinveryyoungchildren.
RSVisaveryseriousvirusthatcanmakebabiesverysick.
Itcanmakeithardforbabiestobreathe.
Babiesmayhavetogotohospitalandsometimesgotointensivecare.
OneoutoftwobabiesgetsickwithRSVinthefirstyearoflife.
WeknowRomababieshaveahigherriskofgettingRSVduetolivinginlargegroupsorlivingwithalotofpeople.Soitisimportantweprotectthemasmuchas wecan.
HowcanweprotectbabiesfromRSV?
Thereisalonglasting,veryeffectiveandsafemedicinewhichwecallimmunisation-itinvolvesgivingthebabyoneinjectionintheirleg. ThismedicinewillprotectyourbabyforsixmonthsfromRSV.
Yourbabycanonlygetthisinhospitalwhenyourbabyisborn.BabiesbornbeforetheendofFebruary2025needthismedicineduetothewinterseason.
Anyquestions?
Ifyouhaveanyquestionsyoucan: askyourmidwifeatthehospitalformoreinformation,or contacttheCairdeRomaInfoLineon0871264606forinformation.
Whatisdifferent?
AnneMcDonnell,WWETB
JeanRawson,WWETB
Versions1and2
FirstandsecondversionsusedbeforeplainEnglishtraining
Initiallylearnersusedtogetacopyofthetimetablegivento tutors.
Wechangedtothisversiontomakeiteasiertoread.
Then,afterdoingplainEnglishtraining,AnneMcDonnellsuggestedthisthirdversion. Itisstillusedtoday.
Whatisdifferent?
EleanorGaffney RespondHousing
GuidelinesIamfollowing
Simple poster
Keydetails only Imagesto catch attention
Chunking phone numbers
Short sentences
Accessible colour
SamanthaRichards TurasNua
OriginalEmployabilityServiceTrifoldformat
NewsamplepagesofEmployabilityServiceBookletformat.
FollowingtheirplainEnglishTraining,TurasNuahiredNALAtoredevelopthreedocumentsin plainEnglish.
Whatisdifferent?
More empathy with reader Explaining technical words Bulletsto breakuptext
Include white space Simpler language Headingsto organise content
DamienO’Reilly WWETB
Sampleslidesfroma‘MarketingMix’PowerPointcreatedbeforeplainEnglishtraining.
‘Hereyoumayidentifytoomuchtextperslide,aclassic exampleof,“DeathbyPowerPoint”,wheretheTeacher/Tutor unknowinglyistryingtocovertomuchinformation,cramming fartoomuchtext&pointsofnoteintooneslide,wherethe practiceisrepeatedover&overagain.’DamienO’Reilly
Sample‘WhyGoodCommunicationMatters’PowerPointpresentationcreatedafterplainEnglishtrainingandapplyingbetter teachingstrategies.
Testimonials
‘ThePlainEnglishTrainingwasagreatsourceofinformationandlearningthatmademethinkalot abouthowIcommunicatewithmyresidentsandcolleagues.
Myinternalpostersareveryplainandjustgivetheinformationthatisneeded. BeforethetrainingI wouldhavebeentryingtogetlotsofinformation,picturesandcoloursonthepage.Iamhopingitis working.
Ihaveintroduced4noticeboardstocommunalhallwaysinJohn’sCollegewhereIcankeepmy residentsinformedofanyprogrammesIamrunningandotherlocalevents.
MyemailstocolleaguesandresidentshavealsoimprovedasonceagainIamstickingtothepointand givingclearinformation. Ifasentenceshowsupwithabluelineunderit,Iamnotimpressed.
Icontinuetoworkwithcolleaguesinhowwecommunicatewithourresidentsandtoensureinclusion fromeverylevelofeducation.’
‘ThebiggestthingthatItookfromthePlainEnglishTrainingwastouseclearerandmoredirectlanguage whendealingwithourcustomers.
TheDepartmentofSocialProtectionusealotofabbreviationsandjargonwhentalkingaboutourdayto-dayworkandmyareaofEmploymentServicesinnodifferentinthis.Butourcustomersdon’talways understandthisanditisreallyimportantthatweuselanguagethatourcustomerscaneasily understandandtocheckthatourcustomersareclearaboutwhatwearetellingthem.
ThisissomethingthatIhavediscussedwithmyTeamwhodealwithcustomerseverydayandIwill continuetoremindthemaboutitasIthinkweneedtokeepafocusonit.
InmyownworkwhenIamwritingtocustomers,Iamtryingtodothesamethingandtoavoidusing moreformallanguagetoensurethatmymessageisclearandeasytounderstand.WhileIfeelthatmy communicationsinwritingandinpersonhasimprovedfollowingthePlainEnglishTrainingIalsoknow thatIneedtokeepworkingonthis.’
‘Iammorecarefulinmywordchoice,sentencestructureandspacingoftext. Thepointaboutnamingthe'link'standsoutthemost.Iusedtouse'clickhere'or'here'nowInamethelink. Iamalsomoreawareofcontrastforcolouronposters,textsandslides. Itwasaveryusefulcourseandthanksfortheopportunitytoattendit.’
MyNationalAdultLiteracyAgency(NALA)learningjourneytodate
IwouldhighlyrecommendNALAtrainingcoursestoall.TheNALAPlainEnglishTrainingenabledmetopauseand evaluateotherpeople’sperspectiveandtheirinterpretationofinformation.Oftenwhencommunicatingamessage,it maybethereadersfirsttimetheyseeorreadit,anditisimportantthatthekeyinformationisreadilyavailable.Adult literacyisanissueinIrelandthatwecancollectivelyhelppeopletoovercome,mostimportantlybynotplacingany barriersintheirway.
ThereareseveralitemstoconsiderwhichInowprioritisesuchas:
PlanningwhatIamgoingtowrite
Toneofthemessageandwhothemessageisfor
Thewordschosenandtheamountofthemused
Contentstructureandformatting
Theuseofwhitespace,paragraphsandlinespacing
Signposting,headingsandsubheadings
Choiceoffont,textsize,bold,colour,backgrounds, justification,bullets,graphs,images,tables,QRcodes
Callstoaction,nextstepsorwhatIrequirefromthereader
Beingmindfulofacronyms,abbreviationsorjargon
Useofeverydaywords
Activevoice,beingdirect,concise,andinclusive
VoicesofImpact
Feedbackfrompeoplewhoengaged withourrevised,plainEnglish communications.
“Simpleisbest.”
“Thesimplestexplanationorunderstandingisoftenthemostaccurate.”
“HiAneta,
IbroughtupthetopicofplainEnglishatarecentNationalGovernmentBodytrainingseminar,whereadiscussionwasheld inrelationtothedifficultiesapplicantsencounterwhencompletingtheapplicationform. Thestaffdeliveringthesession werenotawareof“PlainEnglish”andtookmysuggestionsonboard,whichIhadlearnedfromyou.Whentherevisedform wascirculatednationallyatthestartofJuly,Iwasdelightedtoseeithadbeenamendedtomakeitmucheasiertoread andcomplete. Welldone!”
"Asanarttherapist,presentingtheinformationinavisualwayreallyhelpedmetounderstandcomplicatedideasand plantedtheminmymemory."[Kasia,2023]
WhilenotenantmadeanactualcommentonthepostersIfoundIdidnotgetanycallsaskingquestionsaboutdaysand times. Ihopethisprovestheposterwasveryclearincommunicatingwhatwasonoffer. TheonlycallsIgotwasfrom residentswhowantedtosignup.
"...sobrightandfriendlylooking...makeseverythingmuchclearertounderstandwhenI'mreading[material]outsideof class"fromalearnerinNewRoss.
"Muchclearerandeasiertofollow-theplainEnglishreallymakesadifference.”
“Thisversionismucheasiertoreadandit’ssohandytohavealltheinformationIneedaboutthecourseontheone document.”
Tipsforcommunicatingin plainEnglish
SometipsforwritinginplainEnglish
Imagineyourreadersandspeakdirectlytothem.
Usetheactivevoice.
Useeverydaywords-thewordsofyourreadersandcutjargonandexplaintechnicalwords.
Keepsentencesshort,use15-20words.
Usetheinvertedpyramidofwritingtoputkeymessagesfirst.
Useatleast12-pointtype.
Makeimportantpointsstandoutclearlybyusingabiggersizeorbold.Dothissparingly!
Chooseareadablefont. Itisbesttouseeasy-to-read,sansseriffontslikeArial,HelveticaorPoppins. ThisbookletusesPoppins.
Ifyouareusing12-pointtext,therecommendedlinespacingis1.5spacing. NationalAdultLiteracyAgency
NALAandAdultLiteracyforLifewritinganddesignchecklist
ThischecklistoffersaquickwayforyoutoreviewifyourcontentusesplainEnglishandiseasy tofollow.
AdultLiteracyforLife’sfreeonline course– Let’stalkaboutplain language
TryAdultLiteracyforLife’sshortfreeonlinecourse
Let’stalkaboutplainlanguage
Acoursetointroduceplainlanguage
Whoisitfor?:Peoplewhocommunicatewiththepublic.
Howlong?:95minutes
Acknowledgements
Acknowledgements
ThankyoutoeveryonewhoparticipatedintheplainEnglishtraining.
AspecialthankyoutoSeanDriverfromNALA,who,asalways,expertlyfacilitatedthe plainEnglishtrainingforour75participants. Iamalsogratefulforhissupportinproof readingthisbooklet.
Thankyoutothecontributorswhosharedtheirsamplesforthisbooklet,showinghow theyareapplyingtheirplainEnglishtraining,workingtomaketheircommunications clearerandliteracyfriendlyplusidentifyingtheimpactontheirserviceusers.
Thisis
