Easy read is a method of presenting written information to make it easier to understand for people with difficulty reading.
Easy read advocates sentences of no more than ten to fifteen words, with each sentence having just one idea and one
verb
A verb () is a word (part of speech) that in syntax generally conveys an action (''bring'', ''read'', ''walk'', ''run'', ''learn''), an occurrence (''happen'', ''become''), or a state of being (''be'', ''exist'', ''stand''). In the usual descri ...
. Active sentences are used instead of
passive sentences
A passive voice construction is a grammatical voice construction that is found in many languages. In a clause with passive voice, the grammatical subject expresses the ''theme'' or ''patient'' of the main verb – that is, the person or thing t ...
. Easy read is closely edited, to express ideas in a small number of simple words. Any difficult word or idea is explained in a separate sentence.
The
plain English
Plain English (or layman's terms) are groups of words that are to be clear and easy to know. It usually avoids the use of rare words and uncommon euphemisms to explain the subject. Plain English wording is intended to be suitable for almost anyone, ...
statement: "Thank you for your letter asking for permission to put up posters in the library. Before we can give you an answer we will need to see a copy of the posters to make sure they won't offend anyone." could be rewritten in easy read as follows:
"Thank you for your letter about your poster. We need to see the poster before we put it up. This is because it must not upset people."
An easy read document is usually presented in at least 14-point text, in a sans-serif font, is limited to 24 pages of content, and includes carefully selected images to help people understand.
The UK government promotes the use of easy read across the public sector, in order to increase access to public services.
In Australia, in response to research conducted with the community and public sector staff, the South Australian government promotes the broad benefits of easy read in their Online Accessibility Toolkit.
References
External links
*{{spaced endashan example of an Easy read document published in Australia in 2019.
Accessible information