Submission on behalf of the National Adult Literacy Agency (NALA)
Friday 23rd October 2015.
The National Adult Literacy Agency (NALA) is delighted to see that the Department
of Justice and Equality is calling for written submissions from civil society,
stakeholders and individuals to help shape Ireland’s second National Report for
Cycle 2 of the UPR.
At the National Adult Literacy Agency (NALA) we believe that you can promote
stronger public awareness of human rights issues by using Plain English in all of
your communications and on your website.
What is Plain English?
Plain English is a way to write and present information so a reader can
understand and act on it after a single reading.
Plain English goes beyond using only short words and sentences. It includes
designing and writing information in a way that meets the needs of the reader.
Plain English means:

writing accurately and clearly for the intended reader;

avoiding jargon, except for people who will understand it; and

using clear layout and design so the information is easy on the eye.
Where is Plain English used?
Plain English is mainly intended for documents and websites that the public rely on
to make decisions and to access important information.
Why use Plain English?
It gives everyone a fair chance to access essential services and information.
One of the main benefits of plain English is that it helps to remove complex language
that may be too difficult for certain sections of the population to read.
In effect, it helps to create a level playing field where people, such as adults with
literacy and or numeracy difficulties (1 in 6 and 1 in 4 Irish adults in Ireland
respectively), are no longer excluded from understanding and participating.
This is an especially important consideration in terms of the UPR process.
It can help everyone save time – and money.
Clearer writing leads to fewer mistakes and misunderstandings, leading to more
effective use of staff time.

After producing a clearer bill in plain English, British Telecom saw customer
inquiries fall by 25% each quarter. Customers also paid their bills more
promptly, which improved revenue and reduced the cost of collecting overdue
bills. Before the change, BT had received a million calls a year.

When Arizona’s Department of Revenue rewrote one letter in plain English, it
received about 11,000 fewer phone calls than it had the previous year. Plain
English helped improve efficiency and staff morale, as employees were no
longer answering the same questions repeatedly.
It improves the general standard of writing.
By taking steps to use plain English, your writing becomes clearer for everyone, not
just a particular group. The guidelines that underpin plain English introduce good
practice into all forms of writing and layout.

A Princeton University study showed that people regarded writers who used
unnecessarily complicated words and typefaces as less intelligent than those
who used everyday language and clear fonts[2].

Online, improving how information is written and presented can improve usability
by 124%[3].
Conclusion
We would recommend that using Plain English will certainly help you to ensure that
the information you provide can reach the widest possible audience.
You can find out more at http://www.simplyput.ie/
You can also contact Claire O’Riordan at NALA on [email protected]
You can also download a copy of NALA’s Simply Put: Writing and design tips, here:
https://www.nala.ie/resources/writing-and-design-tips
[2]
Oppenheimer, D.M., 2005. Consequences of Erudite Vernacular Utilized Irrespective of Necessity:
Problems with Using Long Words Needlessly. Journal of Applied Cognitive Psychology 2005.
Reported in Science Daily and available at:
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/10/051031075447.htm
[3] Jakob Nielsen, ‘How Users Read on the Web’, http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9710a.html .