Plain Language

Plain language is a writing style that uses short sentences, common words, active voice, and clear structure to make content understandable on a first read — required by federal regulation for many US government communications and increasingly expected of nonprofit publications, accessibility statements, and customer-facing impact reports.

What plain language usually means in practice

• Average sentence length of 15–20 words.
• Common, concrete words instead of jargon (“use” not “utilize”).
• Active voice (“we collected the data” not “the data was collected”).
• Headings and lists that make scanning possible.
• Examples and analogies for technical concepts.
• Readability targets — often 8th-grade level for general audiences.

Why mission-driven orgs adopt it

• Federal grant compliance: the Plain Writing Act of 2010 requires plain-language communication from federal agencies and many grantees.
• Accessibility: dense, jargon-heavy text creates cognitive accessibility barriers regardless of WCAG technical conformance.
• Equity: clear language broadens who can engage with technical material, including non-native English speakers and lower-literacy audiences.
• Trust: customers and members evaluate impact reports faster when they can understand them.

How it shows up in our work

Plain-language summaries on long publications, alt text written for clarity not keyword density, and AI-assisted simplification flows that surface readable versions of dense board reports for public-facing pages. We treat plain language as part of accessibility, not a separate copy exercise.