- Plain Language Tips
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Plain Language Tips
There are many papers with tips for how to write in plain language [C18] [C19] [C23] [C24]. But the experts on what they understand are people with developmental disabilities on your team. Helping to translate team papers may be an important way for these individuals to help the team reach its goal. A good plain language translator
- Is willing to speak up when they do not understand.
- Is willing to help find better words for parts that they or another team member does not understand.
Some pictures can help people understand the words better [C20]. Pictures should look like the real thing. Faces should have eyes and a mouth, not be empty circles. Some pictures that you may see as cute, a person with disabilities may see as baby-ish and disrespectful of them as an adult. The best ways to be sure that the pictures you use help people understand more are to:
- Show the pictures to people with developmental disabilities and ask them what they are pictures of.
- Have people with developmental disabilities tell you what pictures to use.
We have made the words in the Tool Box as easy to read as we could. But not everything is really plain. In order for many people to be able to use every part of the Tool Box, we had to put in some difficult words. If you find the Tool Box too hard to use, please ask someone to help you.
