Plain English Campaign
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Plain English Campaign is a family business based in the United Kingdom. It encourages organisations to use simple English for public information, which can include contracts, terms and conditions and bills. Plain English is defined as "language that the intended audience can understand and act upon from a single reading". The company has its headquarters in New Mills, Derbyshire, and was founded in 1979 by Chrissie Maher OBE[1].
They provide a document certification service to organisations, which allows the organisation to use the widely-recognised crystal mark in a document to certify that it is written in plain English. They use the word gobbledygook to refer to the kind of tortuous and confusing English that they are campaigning against, and every year a Golden Bull award is given for the worst example. They also give a Foot in Mouth award for "a baffling quote by a public figure".
Many legal and governmental organisations in the UK now use plain English in their public documents. The language often used resembles special English and has been criticised as over-simplified. This points to the challenge facing those who communicate with the public; how to get their ideas across in plain language without losing force or precision.
[edit] Further reading
- Improvement and Development Agency for local (British) government Plain English
- Office of Investor Education and Assistance U.S. Securities and Exchange, A Plain English Handbook(pdf) August 1998
- Plain English Campaign FAQs
- Scottish Executive Plain English
