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Avoid Misunderstood Words

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Summary

Section titled “Summary”

Technical terms, jargon, idioms, acronyms, abbreviations, metaphors, and similes all have the potential to be misunderstood. Defining or explaining these types of words when they must be used helps people to understand information.

Overview

Section titled “Overview”

Choose words carefully to help ensure that information can be understood by everyone. Make sure you choose words that are readily understood or define words and phrases that are technical, unusual, or less common.

  • Use words consistently to avoid confusion about what the words mean.

  • Define technical terms, jargon, idioms, acronyms, and abbreviations to avoid confusion.

  • Explain metaphors and similes to ensure everyone understands them.

Who is Helped

Section titled “Who is Helped”

People with cognitive disabilities that are impacted by language skills, memory, or focus, are supported by using simplified or alternative words and phrases.

  • People with limited language skills often have limited vocabularies, and may not understand uncommon words or metaphorical phrases.

  • Some people with memory impairments have difficulty learning new words or phrases or understanding abstract concepts.

People with some cognitive disabilities may have difficulty understanding metaphors and similes.

People who rely on screen readers or other text-to-speech technology can have difficulty understanding words with ambiguous spelling and pronunciation. This is also true for people with learning disabilities that impact language processing skills.

Everyone benefits from word choices that are easy to understand.

Guidelines

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  • Use words and terms consistently.

  • Choose common words and phrases over vague and obscure ones.

    • Use: Complex words and phrases can confuse.

    • Avoid: Labyrinthine terminology and verbiage can obfuscate the intent of an assertion.

  • Minimize the use of technical terms, jargon, and idioms.

    • Define technical terms, jargon, and idioms when first used.

    • Example: Hyperlinks (also known as links) allow users to navigate between and within web pages.

    • If a longer definition is needed, it can be added in the next sentence, a pop-up window or tooltip, or the term can be linked to a definition located elsewhere in the content, such as a glossary.

  • Minimize the use of acronyms, initialisms, and abbreviations.

    • Define acronyms, initialisms, and abbreviations when first used.

    • Example: Accessibility requirements are based on the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).

    • If a longer definition is needed, it can be added in the next sentence, a pop-up window or tooltip, or the term can be linked to a definition located elsewhere in the content, such as a glossary.

  • Use literal and concrete language.

    • Do not use metaphors and similes unless you include an explanation.

    • Example: It can take time to wrap your head around accessibility; in other words, accessibility can be difficult to understand at first.

  • Define meaning when the pronunciation of words leaves ambiguity. The English language has many words that are spelled the same but have different pronunciations and meanings (heteronyms). This ambiguity can be confusing for people relying on screen readers or other text-to-speech technology and for people with learning disabilities that impact language processing skills.

    • Example: desert (abandon) and desert (arid region)

    • The meaning of ambiguous words should be conveyed by their context whenever possible.

    • Provide another way to clarify pronunciation when meaning is not conveyed by context, such as linking to a dictionary that includes phonetic pronunciation.

  • Spelling and grammar-checking tools can suggest changes to help you avoid words that can be misunderstood.

  • Use the words most common for the country your readers are in.

References

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