The Plain Writing Act of 2010
The Plain Writing Act of 2010 (Public Law 111-274) was signed into law on October 13, 2010. The Act calls for plain writing that is clear, concise, well-organized, and consistent with other best practices appropriate to the subject or field and intended audience. It encourages writers and communicators to avoid jargon, redundancy, ambiguity, and obscurity. Experience has shown that plain writing has many benefits including:
- improving public understanding of government communications and requirements
- saving money and increasing efficiency
- reducing the need for public clarification
- reducing resources spent on enforcement
- increasing public understanding of agency forms and applications
- reducing the number of errors made and the time and effort required to fix them
In short, clear and simple communication has several benefits for the reader:
- to find what they need,
- understand what they read, and
- and do what they need to the first time they read it.