In another recent blog we turned the spotlight on website accessibility, and that all-important User Experience (UX). A well-designed site doesn\u2019t only look great. It guides your customers on a smooth, effortless magic carpet ride to find the information they want.<\/p>\n
For government bodies, healthcare trusts and other public providers there\u2019s a duty of care \u2013 and a legal obligation \u2013 to ensure digital services are accessible to users with disabilities.<\/p>\n
And there\u2019s one aspect of accessibility that\u2019s supremely important to all your online visitors: words, and how you use them. Beautiful graphics won\u2019t help anyone who can\u2019t understand what you\u2019re saying.<\/p>\n
Chores like paying council tax online aren\u2019t fun at the best of times. But imagine for a moment that English isn\u2019t your first language. Or that dyslexia makes reading a real challenge.<\/p>\n
Poorly-chosen words are a big barrier to understanding. Not least for 5 million adults in England who are labelled as \u2018functionally illiterate\u2019 \u2013 while half the UK working population has a reading age of 11 years old or younger.<\/p>\n
GOV.UK – Setting the industry standard<\/strong><\/p>\n The Government Digital Service (GDS) introduced \u2018mandatory\u2019 guidelines for \u2018writing and managing content\u2019. Their style guide is an excellent source of advice.<\/p>\n In their own words, \u2018The main purpose of GOV.UK is to provide information – there\u2019s no excuse for putting unnecessarily complicated writing in the way of people\u2019s understanding\u2019. We agree.<\/p>\n At the top of their recommendations, is good online content that’s easy to read and understand. It uses:<\/p>\n So it\u2019s a big worry that as many as 92% of Central Government and 66% of Local Government sites don\u2019t meet recommended readability standards.<\/p>\n Cost savings<\/strong><\/p>\n Plain English matters. You\u2019ll pay the price as a public service provider when you\u2019re dealing with extra phone calls and costly walk-in visits from confused citizens.<\/p>\n Tone of voice matters, too. The way you\u2019d speak formally to a colleague isn\u2019t the same tone you\u2019d adopt with a child or family friend, even if you\u2019re delivering a similar message.<\/p>\n We all know the pitfalls of SHOUTY CAPITALS in emails – but that\u2019s the tip of the iceberg. Your website speaks to a wide audience with differing expectations – and different levels of understanding. So when you\u2019re addressing online visitors, think how those all-important words will be received by your audience. Which sounds better: \u201cClick here to access information on managing Council Tax payments\u201d or \u201cHelp with paying your Council Tax\u201d?<\/p>\n Keep things clear and simple. And choose your words carefully so they\u2019re better understood. You can make it easier for yourself – and your site visitors – with friendly tools that automatically check your web text for readability.<\/p>\n We\u2019d love to hear the steps you have taken to improve Plain English on your website. Feel free to add your comments in the text box below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In another recent blog we turned the spotlight on website accessibility, and that all-important User Experience (UX). A well-designed site doesn\u2019t only look great. It guides your customers on a smooth, effortless magic carpet ride to find the information they want. For government bodies, healthcare […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":19878,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-19876","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","topic-digital-inclusion","topic-digital-skills","topic-government"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n