using a vibracorer. The vibracorer unit consists of two contra-‐rotating electric motors encased in an aluminum housing. An electric generator on the vessel via a submersible tether cable powers the vibracorer. When energized, the motors produce a high-‐frequency vibration capable of penetrating most unconsolidated strata.
content strategists to plan the API documentation that a project requires. The audiences of API documentation demand a large amount of diverse content that can appear overwhelming to writers at first glance. Writers can get many, often conflicting, requirements from the internal stakeholders such that the sum total of their requirements can exceed the time and resources available. Compressed time-‐to-‐market requirements and a dynamic development environment further complicate the writer’s job.
rated the experimental article as interesting or very interesting. More than 90 percent of participants rated the article as easy or very easy. In addition, although only one participant had the disease discussed in the article, a majority of participants (n = 645) reported having a friend or relative with diabetes. Participants in this study appeared to have the motivation if not the ability to process the central argument of the article. vs. 1b. Participants in this study appeared to have the motivation if not the ability to process the central argument of the article. About half of the participants rated the experimental article as interesting or very interesting. More than 90 percent of participants rated the article as easy or very easy. In addition, although only one participant had the disease discussed in the article, a majority of participants (n = 645) reported having a friend or relative with diabetes.
the largest urban-‐seaport complexes in the U.S., the Portland River Estuary is surrounded by industrial, commercial, and recreational facilities. Industrial facilities include manufacturing, container on-‐ and off-‐loading, and shipbuilding. Commercial, recreational, and retail areas include the Teasback Bay Development, Teasback Marina, Beach Harbor, Aquarium SW, Shorewood Village, and Uptown Marina. The Queen Elizabeth has a permanent berth on the south shore, near the estuary mouth.
failure mode analysis and a criticality analysis in which components were assigned a one to five rating. This analysis did not incorporate risk costs, as KC has not yet identified costs associated with asset failures. Failure rates were based on textbook information where historical data was unavailable. Priority 1 was assigned to components related to moving fluid from the back end to the front end of the facility. Priority 2 was assigned to components that are code/regulation-‐related but do not otherwise affect pump station function. Priority 3 was assigned to instrumentation, and Priorities 4 and 5 were assigned to general lighting and other miscellaneous equipment.
technician who can also explain what she’s doing in such a way that you feel like you understand what went wrong with your computer and how you might even fix the problem yourself if it comes up again. Or an oncologist who can communicate clearly and humanly with you and your wife about what the available treatments for her stage-‐two neoplasm are, and about how the different treatments actually work, and exactly what the plusses and minuses of each one are. If you’re like me, you practically drop and hug the ankles of technical specialists like this, when you find them. As of now, of course, they’re rare. What they have is a particular kind of genius that’s not really part of their specific area of expertise as such areas are usually defined and taught. There’s not really even a good univocal word for this kind of genius—which might be significant. Maybe there should be a word; maybe being able to communicate with people outside one’s area of expertise should be taught, and talked about, and considered as a requirement for genuine expertise.” -‐David Foster Wallace, Novelist
or communicate mainly through American Sign Language. You are a high-‐functioning person with cerebral palsy or autism spectrum disorder. You are slowly losing your eyesight or are blind.
• People read with different levels of literacy. • They may have cognitive, language, or learning disability. • They may live with visual disabilities. In a global web, readers may come from anywhere in the world. So how do you meet these varying needs?
make a case that words problems are design problems. Here are some issues worth designing for: • Better voter instructions • Improving health literacy • Helping people start their own businesses • Supporting people who depend on the government for critical services, like collecting unemployment benefits
Make text content readable and understandable. • Headings and field labels organize the content in a descriptive way that supports readers. (WCAG 2.4.6 and 2.4.10) • Users can understand what will happen when they click on a link because the link is written clearly and presented in a clear context. (WCAG 2.4.4 and 2.4.9) • Instructions and help are available, especially for interactive features and forms. (WCAG 3.3.2 and 3.3.5) • Unusual words that the audience may not know and abbreviations are explained. (WCAG 3.1.3, 3.1.4, 3.1.6) http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20/#meaning
groups are disproportionately affected, but most are actually white and native-‐born. • 35% of elderly (60-‐65) are considered not functionally literate. Low literacy does not mean illiteracy. Low literacy doesn’t indicate a lack of intelligence. It just means that your skills haven’t developed that skill.
under stress, or just busy, they have fewer resources for things like word recognition, inference, and problem-‐solving. Even skilled readers may be: • Rushed • Distracted • Tired • Stressed • Inexperienced • Confused
right, especially when the information comes from your government, or affects your rights and benefits as a citizen. But understanding is just as important in contracts, terms of service, or product instructions. Plain Language helps everyone.
Nixon created plain language momentum when he decreed that the "Federal Register be written in 'layman's terms'” In 1978, U.S. President Jimmy Carter issued 2 Executive Orders to make government regulations cost-‐effective and easy to understand by those who were required to comply with them. In 1981, U.S. President Ronald Reagan rescinded those orders.
language that people can understand and use, for public documents that: • explains government benefits and services • offer guidance for getting Federal government benefits or services or filing taxes • explain how to comply with requirements the government oversees. Some of the changes include: • Appoint a senior official to oversee “plain writing” implementation • Establish a Plain Language program • Set up a public feedback mechanism • Train employees on how to write in Plain Language • Publish an implementation plan and progress updates on a publicly • visible website, accessible from the agency’s homepage.
can understand the first time they hear or read it. Plain Language means users can… • find what they need • understand what they find • Use the information to meet their goals Based on Ginny Redish’s definition and is the one used by Center for Plain Language
literacy • People don’t always read carefully • People may have cognitive disability • People may have visual disability that can affect reading • People may not know or read the language well
Too much text → Ignored or skipped • Hidden steps → Miss important actions • Jargon and unfamiliar words → Misinterpret meaning • Instructions in the wrong place → Make mistakes • Passive voice (ambiguity) → Guess what to do Wait...this all seem like UX issues…because it is!
life insurance policy will be paid to your last named beneficiary of record with the Department of Veterans Affairs according to the payment option selected by you. Our experience shows that many insured fail to keep their designations up-‐to-‐date when there are changes in their personal circumstances. Therefore, if you desire, but have not selected the lump sum settlement option or cannot remember the option you selected, or believe your beneficiary designation is not otherwise current, we suggest you complete the enclosed form and return it to us. (92 words)
computer systems for 2012 to improve the way we store our records and process our claims. This is a perfect opportunity for you to update your records as well. This letter explains what we did to update our records and what you can do to update yours… (50 words) What does the letter want readers to do?
Revenue has received your Transaction Privilege Tax (TPT) license/withholding registration application form and found that insufficient information has been provided to allow us to process your request. (32 words)
audience! • Active voice and other strong verbs • “You” and other pronouns • Common, everyday words • Well-‐organized, reasonably short sentences • Logical organization • Informative headings • Lists and tables Federal Plain Language Guide
Talk • Understand customer needs • Include only relevant information • Use words your customers use • Use the "active voice" • Use personal pronouns • Keep sentences and paragraphs short • Design clear pages http://www.governor.wa.gov/issues/issues/efficient-‐government/plain-‐talk/know-‐guidelines
is: write for your audience. • Who are they? • Why are they reading it? What do they already know about the topic? How familiar are they with the terms? • How do they feel about it? • How are they going to use the information? • What do you want them to know or believe? What do you want them to do?
Readability is “the ease of understanding or comprehension due to the style of writing.” George Klare (1963) • Readability is what makes some texts easier to read than others. • Don’t confuse readability with legibility, which concerns typeface and layout.
• Average adult in the U.S. reads at the 7th grade level (National Adult Literacy Study) Teens Older Adults Low-‐Literacy • Write simply, using words that are common to your readers’ vocabulary • Be concise and get to the point • Make the content apply to personal and cultural experiences • Use words that most older adults know • Write in Plain Language with short, simple and straightforward sentences • Put the most important information first • Write text with a simple sentence structure • Keep pages, paragraphs, sentences short
The permit must be approved by the agency’s State office. Regulations have been proposed by the Department of Veterans Affairs. The following information must be included in the application for it to be considered complete.
The permit must be approved by the agency’s State office. Our State office must approve your permit. Regulations have been proposed by the Department of Veterans Affairs. The Department of Veterans Affairs proposed new regulations. The following information must be included in the application for it to be considered complete. You must include the following information in your application.
Hidden Verb Uncovered To trace the missing payment, we need to carry out a review of the Agency’s accounts so we can gain an understanding of the reason the error occurred. This means we must undertake the calculation of new figures for the congressional hearing.
Hidden Verb Uncovered To trace the missing payment, we need to carry out a review of the Agency’s accounts so we can gain an understanding of the reason the error occurred. To trace the missing payment, we need to review the Agency’s accounts so we understand the reason the error occurred. This means we must undertake the calculation of new figures for the congressional hearing. This means we must calculate new figures for the congressional hearing.
Write to just one person. • “You” pulls in readers and makes it easier to understand what they need to do. • Write questions using “I” to refer to the reader • “We” refers to the agency
“you” when you are writing to multiple audiences. Not like this Instead use Facilities in regional and district offices are available to the public during normal business hours for requesting copies of agency records. If you are a private citizen, you can get copies of our records at any regional or district office Lessees and operators are responsible for restoring the site. You must ensure that… Lessees and operators are responsible for restoring the site. If you are the lessee, you must monitor the operator to ensure that. If you are the operator, you must conduct all operations in a way…
words Watch out for: • Undefined abbreviations • Undefined acronyms • Using different terms to mean the same thing • Legal or technical jargon • Quoting regulations (unless absolutely necessary) Instead of Consider Demonstrate Show Alternatively Or Terminate End, finish
out for redundant words, excess modifiers, repetitive words with same meaning. Avoid Instead use A number of Several, a few, many Is able to Can due and payable Due
important characters and actions, and keep them close • Watch out for noun stacks – reverse order of words (Williams) and get to the subject quickly • Turn double negatives into positives (e.g., no fewer than → at least) • Delete meaningless words and words that repeat meaning of other words • Replace phrases with a word
• Chronological, Spatial, General to specific, More important to less important • Topic sentences, transition words, metadiscursive cues (e.g., recall my first point…) Visual (Gurak and Lannon, Shriver) • Title, headings, paragraphs, tables, lists • Color, typography, white space, diagrams
primary sections and its subsections • Help readers scan and identify the info they’re searching for Types of headings (Markel Ch. 9) • Question headings work well for those who aren’t familiar with the topic • Use How-‐to headings for instructional topics • Use gerund (-‐ing) headings for discussions and descriptions of processes
requirements or other information to help your readers: • Highlight levels of importance • Help them understand the order in which things happen • Make it easy for them to identify all necessary steps in a process • Add blank space for easy reading • Present items, conditions, and exceptions
• A tablet • A pen or pencil • The paperwork you sent us when you first applied for class Classroom Supplies When you come to class, you should bring the following — • A tablet A pen or pencil The paperwork you sent us when you first applied for class. Who is bringing the supplies?
that are often hidden in dense text. For most readers, they don’t need to understand all possibilities and conditions, only those that apply to the reader’s situation.
the deduction is ... a tribe requests an increase they send us a in the deduction through a written request tribal resolution they send us a in the deduction through a written request the percentage requested by the tribe. an authorized tribal we approve the representative requests a decrease decrease in the deduction we approve the representative requests a decrease the percentage requested, with a one percent minimum. Use an if-‐then table to make a decision
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