Crystal Mark - Plain English

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The council are committed to developing a close relationship with all of the people who use our services. A key part of this approach is to communicate well by writing in plain English. Since May 2006, this site has been 'Crystal Mark' accredited by the Plain English Campaign. This confirms that it meets their standards for clear communications.

The council joined the Plain English Campaign to help our staff to communicate effectively with all our service users. Here is a series of simple guidelines which we encourage our staff to use:

• Keep sentences to around 15 to 20 words long. Very short sentences make a strong impact.
• Make the document appropriate to the audience. Try to make your writing style less formal and more personal.
• Write in the active tense. i.e, say "we can't send the computer" rather than "the computer cannot be sent by us".
• Avoid jargon, legalistic and pompous words. Write to inform, not to impress.
• When technical words are necessary make sure you explain them.
• Get to the point quickly and keep to the essentials. Cut out the waffle!
• Brevity does not always produce clarity. If you use simpler words, you may need more of them to explain the point clearly.
• Use 'commands' when writing instructions, for example, "Fill in the form" is clearer than "the form should be filled in".
• Think about how to present information. Would a table or flow chart explain it? Would questions and answers be better?

Interesting writing tips and guidance including:

• The A-Z of financial terms.
• The A-Z of alternative words
• How to write letters in plain English
• How to write reports in plain English
• The A-Z of pensions and Pensions in plain English

can all be found on the Plain English Campaign website.