Plain English for eGov

A
Language
for the
People

Plain English is ideal for Section 508 Web Site Usability Compliance.

What is PLAIN ENGLISH?

PLAIN ENGLISH is small subset of English designed to reach a wide diversity of readers in many areas. PLAIN ENGLISH helps consumers understand product instructions and eGovernment web sites.

Plain English works well with application forms, safety instruction, policies and procedures.

PLAIN ENGLISH for Banking, Insurance, Pharmaceuticals, Consumer Products
The use of Plain English is ideal consumer electronics, toys, package inserts, eGov web sites and financial documents.

PLAIN ENGLISH

If you are building a Web Site with millions of page views per day, make sure that the English is clear and concise.

2010 - Healthcare, banking and insurance, let Plain English reduce compliance costs.

Make your web site a simple customer experience.

Click to email a request for costs. Describe your legal requirements.

PLAIN
ENGLISH
for

Federal,
State,
and
City
Governments

1964 Civil Rights Act
Persons in the United States who have limited proficiency in English may be entitled to language assistance for certain government services under Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. All programs and operations of the federal government and those programs of state and local agencies and private and non-profit entities that receive assistance from the federal government must take reasonable steps to ensure that people with limited proficiency in English have meaningful access to the programs, services and information.

PLAIN ENGLISH for Federal, State and Local Government Agencies

Language assistance can be in the form of oral interpretation services, bilingual staff, telephone interpreter lines, community volunteers, and written language services. Where language support is required for internet access to services, the use of Plain English for information technology systems is ideal.

Other languages required
Spanish is the second largest language group in the United States after English, other languages include Native American languages, Tagalog, Chinese, Arabic and Vietnamese. See SMART Translator.

What is Section 508?
In 1998, Congress amended the Rehabilitation Act to require federal agencies to make their electronic and information technology accessible to people with disabilities. Inaccessible technology interferes with an individual’s ability to obtain and use information quickly and easily. Section 508 was enacted to eliminate barriers in information technology, to make available new opportunities for people with disabilities, and to encourage development of technologies that will help achieve these goals. The law applies to all Federal agencies when they develop, procure, maintain, or use electronic and information technology. Under Section 508, agencies must give disabled employees and members of the public access to information that is comparable to the access available to others.

View a sample of regulatory language rewritten into PLAIN ENGLISH at the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles.
(NY DMV is an Award-winning site.)

The New York State Department of Motor Vehicles has successfully used SMART Plain English and our MAXit Checker for three years. Users appreciated the removal of "legalese".

We localize eGov
web sites

Make your web site a plain
English experience.

SMART offers a Starter Set to let clients get started with a Pilot Project for a PLAIN ENGLISH initiative. Click QuickQuote above to email a request for costs and information.