Use Plain Language

8 minute read

Last updated: Feb 23, 2026

Summary

When you write using plain language, you make it easier for people to understand what you write.

Plain language helps people:

understand your content the first time they read it
find and use the information they need, quickly and easily
avoid the distraction of unnecessarily complex words or sentence structure

Overview

Understanding a document that uses complex words and sentence structures can be challenging. For people with cognitive and learning disabilities that affect language skills, overly complicated language can have an even more significant impact. Complex language can prevent these individuals from understanding and using information.

Plain language does not mean you need to “dumb down” or oversimplify content. It means you should avoid being overly complex unless necessary. Plain language does not make content simpler; it makes content simpler to understand.

The International Plain Language Federation defines plain language:

A communication is in plain language if its wording, structure, and design are so clear that the intended readers can easily find what they need, understand what they find, and use that information.

Plain language is a way of writing content so people can quickly and easily understand and use information. It makes it easy to understand a document on the first reading. Plain language helps the reader stay focused on the information.

Who is Helped

Cognitive and learning disabilities can impact language skills. Individuals affected by this may have reading difficulties, processing difficulties, limited memory, and limited focus. These individuals can benefit from simplified content that is written in plain language.

For example, someone with dyslexia may find it easier to understand common or familiar words and phrases that they already know. Complex language that uses uncommon words can make content difficult for people with dyslexia to understand.

Plain language also helps people with low reading literacy, people who natively speak another language, and people who are unfamiliar with the topic.

Clear, understandable language reduces cognitive load for everyone, making plain language beneficial for all of us.

Guidelines

Plain language writing is clear, concise, and avoids unneeded complexity. These references describe some of the different approaches to writing with plain language.

We need different approaches to plain language writing as different languages affect the implementation of specific guidelines. For example, the articles written for Ta11y are all available in English. However, some of our authors use British English while others use American English. That difference is sometimes significant enough to affect an individual’s understanding of the content. Imagine how much more of an impact these differences have when multiple languages are involved. The ISO 24495-1:2023 Plain Language Standard, published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), provides a language-neutral standard for implementing plain language guidelines that work in most languages.

Basic guidelines for writing with plain language include:

Use clear, descriptive words.
Use common words and terms.
Use simple words and phrases.
Use shorter sentences and paragraphs.
Use simple tenses and voice.
Organize your content.
Write for your audience.
Check spelling and grammar.

The guidelines in this article use English examples but are applicable across most languages.

Use Clear, Descriptive Words

Use clear, descriptive words, especially for headings, labels, links, buttons, navigational elements, instructions, error messages, and other elements that provide wayfinding cues within the content.
Use descriptive words to increase usability, especially for critical wayfinding cues.
Be concise, but be clear. Choose clarity over brevity.
The right words make it easier for people to find needed information, complete tasks, and fill out forms.

Function	Use	Avoid
Link	Unsubscribe	Click here
Error Message	Email address may not contain spaces	Email incorrect
Heading	Pre-flight Test Procedures	Procedures

Table 1: Use Clear, Descriptive Words

Use Common Words and Terms

Use common words and terms with their most common meanings. People can quickly process familiar words, while learning new words slows down our cognitive processing.

Limit the use of technical terms, jargon, idioms, and colloquialisms.
Limit the use of acronyms and abbreviations.
Limit the use of terms that are only used in one country if you are writing in a language used in many places.
Define technical terms, jargon, idioms, and colloquialisms when first used.
Define acronyms and abbreviations when first used.
Choose common, familiar words and phrases over more unusual ones.

Use	Avoid
In response to	In light of
hyperlinks (also known as links)	hyperlinks (when first used)
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)	WCAG (when first used)

Table 2: Use Common Words & Terms

The Turbo Encabulator provides a great “bad” example of using misunderstood words and terms.

See Avoid Misunderstood Words for more information on making good word choices.

Use Simple Words and Phrases

Choose simple words and phrases over complex words and convoluted phrases.

Do not use complex words when simpler words will work.
Do not use complex sentences when simpler sentences will work.
Do not use complex phrases or phrases with many parts when simpler phrases will work.
- This can particularly be an issue in languages like Spanish and French when using phrases with multiple indirect pronouns.
Avoid unnecessary or vague words such as “and so forth.”
Avoid using unnecessary contractions.
- Contractions are an access barrier for many people with reading-related disabilities, especially dyslexia and blurred vision.

Use	Avoid
enough	a sufficient number of
find out	ascertain
do not	don’t
Send your receipt to Customer Returns.	Financial documentation for all returned purchases must be communicated directly to our Customer Returns representatives at http://www.store.com/customer-service.

Table 3: Use Simple Words & Phrases

Complex ideas sometimes require complex words and phrases.

It is perfectly okay to use complex content when needed, but do not add complexity for its own sake.
Use one of these methods to help people understand complex words and phrases:
- Include simpler terms or definitions in brackets next to complex terms.
- Explain a new term in the following sentence.
- Add a pop-up or tooltip with the definition.
- Link to another location, like a glossary.

Use Shorter Sentences and Paragraphs

Long, convoluted sentences and paragraphs make it harder for people to understand content. They can create barriers that prevent people with disabilities related to language skills from processing and using information. Using shorter sentences and paragraphs makes content easier to read and understand.

In languages with a flexible word order, use the most common word order for your sentences whenever possible. In English, we use the Subject-Verb-Object word order.

See Use Shorter Sentences and Paragraphs for more information.

Use Simple Tenses and Voice

In English, use simple tense and active voice to make the content easier to understand.

Present tense is direct and simplifies the meaning of a sentence.
Present tense and active voice are the easiest sentence structures to understand in English.

In other languages, use the most common tense and voice for the topic you are discussing. For example, in some languages, such as Turkish, the passive voice is more common for certain types of sentences.

See Use Simple Tense and Voice for more information.

Organize Your Content

Use a clear content structure to make it easier for people to find specific content.

Use clear, descriptive headings.
Break content into logical chunks of information.
Use tables and lists to organize information.
Highlight key information to make it stand out.

See Content Organization for more information.

Write for Your Audience

Write for your audience when you know who they are. Use language your audience knows and is comfortable with, and use an appropriate reading level. For example:

A book for young children might use a writing style that differs significantly from a textbook for college students.
Documentation explaining how to use a website might contain technical terms if written for web developers, but might avoid them if the intended audience is the average web user.

Even a highly educated audience will appreciate plain language. An expert audience can always include people who are unfamiliar with the topic or who natively speak another language. In the age of information overload, no one wants to work harder than necessary to understand your content. Plain language lowers everyone’s cognitive load.

An expert audience can also include people with low reading levels. Studies show that 70% of Americans read at a 7th-to-8th-grade reading level. Plain language helps these individuals understand written content.

See Reading Level for more information.

Check Spelling and Grammar

Correct spelling and grammar aid in the clarity and readability of written content. Spelling and grammar-checking tools can suggest changes to simplify complex words and sentences.

See Check Spelling and Grammar for more information.