Easy Read: Improve Your Content by Writing for Accessibility

It was one of my clients, bemix, who first introduced me to Easy Read content. After some time spent getting to grips with this new way of writing, my overall copy improved with the use of Easy Read concepts. When I mention creating this type of content to friends I generally get blank stares, so today I’ll be sharing a little about what Easy Read is and how you can improve your copy by applying its key concepts.

What is Easy Read content?

Easy Read content is written to be accessible to people who have learning difficulties. It aims to give clear statements that avoid jargon or lengthy sentences. It’s informative and is accompanied by images that reflect the written content. These images provide visual depictions of the written content and are often custom made to accompany the text so that they are truly relevant. To see some examples of Easy Read content, take a look at this NHS website.

What lessons can be learned from Easy Read concepts?

Making your content more accessible by sticking to plain English has a range of benefits. It increases the number of people who can read and appreciate your work, as people won’t be excluded simply because they aren’t familiar with more obscure words and phrases. Growing your audience has obvious financial benefits and in a time when many companies are working to become more inclusive, showing that you’ve considered all of your potential readers can only be a good thing.

Writing in plain English is also a great way to give your content a relaxed, conversational tone, which is generally more effective than a stuffy, formal approach. Articles, web pages and social media posts are not uni essays (thank goodness), so you don’t need to show off your extensive vocabulary to create a well-written and engaging piece of copy. Where appropriate, aim to write as if you’re speaking to a friend. This will help you to keep an upbeat and positive tone without sounding too “corporate” and will make your content more enjoyable to read.

Easy Read teaches us to avoid using jargon where possible, and to provide a clear explanation when jargon is absolutely necessary. It’s easy, especially when you’re used to writing solely for one particular industry, to become so familiar with its jargon and acronyms that you forget that these terms are not immediately obvious to “outsiders”. Again, the more you stick to plain English, the more people can engage in your content. Of course, there will always be times when these industry-specific terms are crucial to your work, in which case they should be included - it’s just worth considering whether this is the case for the specific copy you’re working on.

This type of content also calls for its writers to think carefully about which images they choose to accompany their copy. In Easy Read, the role of images is to provide a visual representation of the content. Images are there to inform and “back up” what’s been written, and generally there’ll be an image to accompany each sentence or short paragraph. This isn’t needed for most copy, but this concept serves as a handy reminder to think carefully about what messages we’re trying to convey in the images we choose. For example, I make a conscious effort within this website to have each image fit my brand palette so that there’s a sense of consistency and uniformity throughout.

“Short and sweet” is a priority in Easy Read content. The focus is on sharing key information in a concise and accessible way. Of course at times we have a target number of words or characters to meet, but if not, try to reflect on how much of your content is really necessary and to avoid “filler” copy.

Where do I go from here?

We’ve covered the key aims of Easy Read content, and how they’ll help you to create concise, thoughtful and accessible copy. What I haven’t mentioned so far is that, for me at least, they also make writing more fun. The creative task of trying to explain complex ideas as simply as possible and to create relevant accompanying images is something I really enjoy. Why not challenge yourself to make your next piece of copy more Easy to Read? Or, alternatively, if you’d like me to tackle this for you (and have a blast doing it!), reach out to me today.