The Accessible Information Standard creates a mandatory duty for health and social care providers to meet the information and communication needs of patients and service users, where need is related to a disability, impairment or sensory loss.
Archive | Easy Read
Accessible language for everyone; lessons from sport
By Inklecomms on April 14, 2016 in Accessible information, Easier English, Easy Read, Plain English, Research
Sport may seem an unlikely place to find accessible information advice, but this week there was plenty, at EDFS’s Active Communications event. What are the implications for people with language disability, and how can we create accessible language for everyone?
Sense Making Optimisation: an introduction
By Inklecomms on February 4, 2016 in Accessible information, Easy Read, Plain English, Sense Making Optimisation
Have you heard of Search Engine Optimisation? It helps ensure people can find your information online. But what’s the point of making your information easy to find, if it’s too difficult to understand? Sense Making Optimisation is a new concept in communication planning and practice, providing a strategic, holistic approach to create information that’s easier to […]
The new Accessible Information Ladder
By Inklecomms on August 24, 2015 in Accessible information, Accessible Information Ladder, Easy Read, Plain English, User testing
The Accessible Information Ladder is a free resource to help research, plan, create and test accessible information, and ensure none of your customers’ information accessibility needs are overlooked.
Claims Easy Read works – a closer look
By Inklecomms on July 23, 2015 in Accessible information, Accessible writing techniques, Easy Read, Plain English, Research, User testing
Does Easy Read work? A claim that Easy Read is effective is reviewed. New evidence suggests Easy Read can increase difficulty for people with language and learning disabilities, with a need to professionalise the provision of accessible information.
The ethics of Easy Read
There are ethical issues in simplifying information. Easy Read has a narrow target audience, and an accessibility gap in information provision reduces equal access to knowledge for personalised support and informed choice.
Is Easy Read language simpler?
By Inklecomms on February 2, 2015 in Accessible information, Easy Read, Easy Read research, Research
New research finds Easy Read language is not always simpler. Easy Read writing techniques can make syntax more complex, and delete connections between ideas, making information harder to understand for low knowledge and low skilled readers.
How Easy Read changes sentences: research results
By Inklecomms on January 15, 2015 in Accessible writing techniques, Easy Read, Easy Read research, Research, Short sentences
New research shows how Easy Read and Plain English methods change text. Sentences are shortened by splitting sentences, deleting information and using bullet points. But research suggests these changes might be making Easy Read information more difficult to understand.
Origins of Easy Read: advocacy and policy
The social and political origins of accessible information in the last 40 years in the UK, with a narrowing of the target audiences for accessibility. There is a need to widen our audiences for accessible information, and clarify terms for a new, systematic approach.
43 pages of Easy Read – audiences of accessible information
A recent Easy Read report had 100 sentences and 43 pages. How do we make informed decisions about our audiences’ reading levels and information needs, and use this knowledge to adapt information effectively?