Improve the web with plain words V2

**Includes more speaker notes and links**

Plain words make the web better for everyone. They’re better for screen readers. They’re easier to understand. Plain words remove doubt and help people complete tasks online. This short talk will show you how to improve a11y by making your words plain.

Transcript

1. Ryan Bigge
   Improve the web with plain words
   a11y camp, Toronto, November 18, 2017
   

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2. • Why plain words are good for a11y
   • How to make your words plain
   Today I’ll talk about:
   

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3. • Semantic HTML or alt-text
   • Images, icons, and videos
   • Legibility (font size) and contrast
   • Link text or forms
   Today I won’t talk about:
   

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4. • Semantic HTML or alt-text
   • Images, icons, and videos
   • Legibility (font size) and contrast
   • Link text or forms
   Today I won’t talk about:
   All of the above are important, but my focus is plain words.
   

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5. Why plain words are good for a11y
   

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6. • An average American reads at an 8th grade level
   • Simple words make it easier to do things
   • Simple words mean more people can use your
   product or service successfully
   Reading grade level and a11y
   

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7. • Short sentences
   • Simple words
   • Avoid adverbs
   • Active voice
   Readability
   Stephanie Hobson’s great framework for readability and understandability:
   www.slideshare.net/stephaniehobson/writing-for-every-reader/
   

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8. • No idioms
   • No pop culture or slang
   • No rhetorical questions or sarcasm
   • No jargon
   Understandability
   Your words can be readable but not understandable, due to slang, jargon, or idioms.
   

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9. • Using company slang to describe things to people
   • Error messages are often full of nerdview
   • Write in the user’s words
   • Respect how they think
   Avoid nerdview
   https://ux.shopify.com/revenge-of-nerdview-baf84a432bae
   

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10. Users go to your site to perform a task.
    Don’t force them do a word puzzle.
    

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11. What plain looks like
    Wow! This doc has changed a lot.
    To sync to the latest version, reload
    Taken from a Google Doc banner
    

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13. These are Patreon’s terms of use (stick with us
    here). We know that most people skim through
    terms of use statements because they’re boring
    and go right over our heads, but we have done
    everything we can to make this easy to get
    through.
    

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14. Plain doesn’t mean dumbed down
    

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15. Plain doesn’t mean dumbed down
    Boat that goes under the sea
    We’ve always had boats that go under the sea,
    but in the last few hundred years, we’ve learned
    to make ones that come back up.
    Thing Explainer - Randall Munroe
    

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16. - Sarah J. Richards
    “You aren’t ‘dumbing down.’ You’re
    opening up your information to
    anyone who wants to read it.”
    

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17. - Sarah J. Richards
    “We’re writing clearly because we
    respect people’s time, interest and
    attention.”
    

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18. • Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are
    used to seeing in print
    • Never use a long word where a short one will do
    • If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out
    • Never use the passive where you can use the active
    • Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you
    can think of an everyday English equivalent
    • Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous
    Plain isn’t new - George Orwell
    

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19. • Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are
    used to seeing in print
    • Never use a long word where a short one will do
    • If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out
    • Never use the passive where you can use the active
    • Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you
    can think of an everyday English equivalent
    • Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous
    Plain isn’t new - George Orwell
    Politics and the English language
    1946
    

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20. How to make your words plain
    

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21. www.gov.uk/guidance/government-design-principles
    

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22. If you can explain a tricky thing in plain
    words, it proves you understand it.
    

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23. • Original
    • Clear
    • Clear, Concise
    • Clear, Concise, Useful
    How Google transforms their content through UX writing:
    https://uxplanet.org/ux-writing-how-to-do-it-like-google-with-this-powerful-checklist-e263cc37f5f1
    Plain requires a process
    

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24. Use tools to make it simple
    

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25. • Grade level on my Nerdview article: 11.3
    • Grade level on Design words with data: 7.4
    Lose your ego
    ux.shopify.com/revenge-of-nerdview-baf84a432bae
    medium.com/dropbox-design/design-words-with-data-fe3c525994e7
    

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26. Plain words are better for everyone. They’re better for people with
    cognitive challenges. They’re better for people whose first language
    isn’t english. They’re better for people using assistive technology.
    And they’re better for anyone who wants to complete a digital task
    quickly and confidently.
    Lose your ego
    This is the original description for my plain language talk.
    

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28. Plain words are better for everyone. They’re better for people with
    cognitive challenges. They’re better for people whose first language
    isn’t english. They’re better for people using assistive technology.
    And they’re better for anyone who wants to complete a digital task
    quickly and confidently.
    Lose your ego
    Average grade level = 10
    Average grade level = 10
    The original description for my plain language talk wasn’t very plain.
    

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29. Computer says no
    This is what using a grade level reader can feel like.
    

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30. This is what using a grade level reader can feel like.
    Computer says no
    

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31. This is what using a grade level reader can feel like.
    Computer says no
    

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32. Computer says no
    

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33. Plain words make the web better for everyone. They’re better for
    screen readers. They’re easier to understand. Plain words remove
    doubt and help people complete tasks online. This short talk will
    show you how to improve a11y by making your words plain.
    Lose your ego
    It took a few tries, but I made my words plain.
    

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34. Plain words make the web better for everyone. They’re better for
    screen readers. They’re easier to understand. Plain words remove
    doubt and help people complete tasks online. This short talk will
    show you how to improve a11y by making your words plain.
    Lose your ego
    **Average grade level = 6.4**
    

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35. Nerdview: an organizational tendency to use insider language when
    describing products and services to outsiders.
    Nerdview: Using insider language to describe something to an
    outsider.
    Nerdview: Using company slang to describe things to people.
    Lose your ego every day
    It took a few tries, but I made my nerdview definition plain.
    

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36. • Write for your audience
    • Use short sentences and simple words
    • Get to the point
    • Test your content
    • Lose your ego
    Summary
    

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37. And yes, every sentence
    in this talk is plain.
    

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38. Computer says yes
    YES
    

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39. Thanks!
    

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40. • 7 guidelines for writing accessible microcopy: invisionapp.com/blog/writing-accessible-microcopy/
    • Writing for every reader: slideshare.net/stephaniehobson/writing-for-every-reader
    • Center for plain language: centerforplainlanguage.org/
    • Readable.io: readable.io
    • Hemingway editor: hemingwayapp.com
    • a11y according to people with disabilities: axesslab.com/accessibility-according-to-pwd/
    • Thing explainer: xkcd.com/thing-explainer/
    • Design words with data: medium.com/dropbox-design/design-words-with-data-fe3c525994e7
    • Government design principles: gov.uk/guidance/government-design-principles
    Resources
    

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41. • Dumbing down: contentdesign.london/reading/dumbing-down/
    • Writing content for everyone: gds.blog.gov.uk/2016/02/23/writing-content-for-everyone/
    • Five steps to plain language: centerforplainlanguage.org/learning-training/five-steps-plain-language/
    • Writing for a human-centered website: boston.gov/news/writing-human-centered-website
    • Manifesto on government acronyms: medium.com/@lflockwood/a-manifesto-on-government-acronyms-59f58dbd2774#.r13mf7k66
    • UX writing at Google: uxplanet.org/ux-writing-how-to-do-it-like-google-with-this-powerful-checklist-e263cc37f5f1
    • Revenge of nerdview: ux.shopify.com/revenge-of-nerdview-baf84a432bae
    • Plainlanguage.gov: plainlanguage.gov/
    • Tips on semantic HTML: internetingishard.com/html-and-css/semantic-html/
    More resources
    

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