Plain Language
Definition
ISO 24495-1, published in 2023, defines it in exactly those terms and sets out four governing principles: readers get what they need, can find it easily, understand it, and can use it. The techniques behind that are unglamorous — short sentences, active voice, common words in place of jargon, the main point first, meaningful headings, and lists where a sentence would otherwise carry four conditions. WCAG approaches the same ground at level AAA through 3.1.5 Reading Level, which asks that text requiring an ability beyond lower secondary education be supplemented with a simpler version, plus 3.1.3 Unusual Words and 3.1.4 Abbreviations. The UK government's content guidance aims at a reading age of around nine for public-facing text, with average sentences in the 15 to 20 word range, and the US Plain Writing Act of 2010 obliges federal agencies to write their public documents this way. None of this is about writing down to people; specialist readers get through plain text faster too.
Why It Matters
Dense prose is a barrier for readers with cognitive and learning disabilities, for anyone reading in a second language, for people who are tired or distracted, and for the large proportion of visitors reading on a phone with half their attention. It also costs money in obvious ways: a confusing instruction becomes a support email, and a paragraph nobody finishes becomes an abandoned form. Text read aloud by a screen reader suffers more than text on a page, because a 45-word sentence cannot be skimmed back over — it has to be replayed. Simplifying is usually the cheapest change on any accessibility list, since it needs no code and no tooling.
How It Works
Lead with the answer, then explain, rather than building to a conclusion in the last line. Keep one idea per sentence and aim for an average around 15 to 20 words, letting the occasional longer sentence in for rhythm. Use the words your readers use — 'you can cancel any time' rather than 'cancellation may be effected at the subscriber's discretion' — and spell out an abbreviation the first time it appears. Break the page with a clear heading structure so someone scanning can find their section without reading the rest, and write link text that says where it goes, since a screen reader user pulling up a list of links sees the words and nothing around them. Read the result aloud: anything that makes you run out of breath is too long, and anything you stumble over will trip a reader too.
Real-World Example
A consultancy publishes a 900-word service description as a landing page at consult.99helpers.site, opening with two paragraphs about the firm's philosophy before mentioning what it sells. Rewriting it to open with one sentence naming the service and the price, then three short sections under plain headings, cut the page to 500 words. The download of the full proposal PDF stayed where it was, but the link text changed from 'Read more' to 'Download the full proposal (PDF, 1.1 MB)', which told every reader what they would get before they clicked.
Common Mistakes
- ✕Chasing a readability score instead of a reader — an algorithm counts syllables and cannot tell whether the sentence answers the question that brought someone to the page
- ✕Keeping internal vocabulary because it is precise — precision that the reader has to look up is not precision, it is a delay
- ✕Writing link text like 'click here' or 'read more' — out of context, which is how a screen reader user often meets it, the link carries no information at all
Related Terms
Heading Structure
Heading structure is the order and nesting of the H1 to H6 elements on a page. Read on their own, they should give a usable outline of what the page covers.
Document Outline
A document outline is the nested hierarchy a page's headings describe — its table of contents, implied rather than printed. Assistive technology builds navigation directly from it.
Anchor Text
Anchor text is the visible, clickable wording of a link. Search engines read it as a short description of the page at the other end, written by whoever placed the link.
Web Accessibility
Web accessibility is the practice of building pages, documents and media that people with disabilities can perceive, operate and understand — including people using a screen reader, a keyboard alone, screen magnification or captions.
Landing Page
A page built for one purpose, which people reach directly from an ad, an email or a shared link. It is judged by the share of visitors who do the one thing it asks.
Put a file online in seconds
Drop in a document, an image, a page or a whole static website and share the link — free, with no build step and no server to set up.
Host a file free →