TechWRITE Inc. - Plain Language

TechWRITE's Commitment to Plain Language

Since TechWRITE started in 1985, our primary goal has been to make complicated information easy to understand. Plain language has always been the key to implementing this core value. TechWRITE has consistently focused on using plain language in the hundreds of manuals, tutorials, and web sites we have developed over the past 24 years.

If you'd like to see some "before and after" examples of our plain language documents, please fill out the form below. Or, if you have any questions and want to learn more about our services, give us a call at
856-848-6593 or send an e-mail.

So what is plain language?

Basically, plain language is language that is easy to understand. If a sentence is written in plain language, you don't have to read it twice to figure out what it means. And that's true regardless of the subject matter. Plain language is clear and concise, and, most of all, it focuses on ensuring immediate comprehension by the reader.

For more information about plain language, go to Plain Language Association International (PLAIN).
(Note: TechWRITE's president, Nad Rosenberg is on the Board of Directors of PLAIN and spoke at the annual conference in Sydney, Australia on October 17 on Using Plain Language in Flash Presentations.)

What's the benefit of plain language documents?

Everybody benefits from plain language documents - the person who's reading the document as well as the document's publisher (for example, government or business). Here are a few reasons why:

	Readers can comprehend information more quickly and thus perform related tasks more efficiently.
	There are fewer follow-through mistakes because information is clearly stated.
	There is greater customer satisfaction.

Plain language in the news

Recently, the U.S. government has taken steps to legislate the use of plain language in government and finanical documents. Here are a few examples:

The Plain Language Act (H.R. 946) was reintroduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on February 10, 2009. The Plain Writing Act (S. 574) was reintroduced in the U.S. Senate on March 11, 2009. Both bills would require federal government agencies to write public documents in simple, easy-to-understand language.

The U.S. House of Representatives has reintroduced a 401(k) fee disclosure bill stating that fee information must be written in plain English.

U.S. federal agencies will be required to revise the job descriptions for the 10 most common positions they hire for and rewrite them in plain language.

Can I see some examples of plain language documents?

Just fill out the form below, and TechWRITE will send you "before and after" examples of plain language documents. If you have any questions and want to learn more about our services, give us a call at 856-848-6593 or send an e-mail.

* = Required fields

First Name:*
Last Name:*
Job Title:*
Company:*
Address 1:*
Address 2:
City:*
State:*
Zip Code:*
Phone:*
Fax:
E-mail address:*

Please answer the following questions. To select more than one option from a list, press the Ctrl key. When you are finished, click the Submit button.

1. What kind of information are you interested in putting into plain language?

2. Does the information already exist in some format or is this an entirely new project?

3. By using plain language, what are you hoping to accomplish?