NATIONAL TA CENTER FOR VOTING AND COGNITIVE ACCESS SPRING 2009
The need for understandable
In This Issue voting materials - by Nancy Ward
. The need for understandable voting materials……………….. Pg 1 When people talk about voting accessibility they often think about . New to the GoVoter.org adding ramps, curb cuts, and low- website ……………………………... Pg 2 weight doors to polling sites. This is . Plain Language Resources an important part of accessibility but it What is plain language ………………Pg 3 does not make voting accessible for Why use plain language ….……..….Pg 3 everyone. Plain language and voting ………….Pg 3 Learning to use plain language …Pg 4 For many people with intellectual Plain language organizations …….Pg 5 disabilities voting accessibility does History of plain language laws….Pg 6 not mean a ramp. For voting to be accessible it means that voting Contact our Co-Directors: information needs to be Hannah Bowen, MSW understandable. Portland State University Email: [email protected] Almost all voter guides and Phone: 503-725-9609 ballots do not use plain language. These voting materials are written in Nancy Ward language that most people can’t OK Disability Law Center understand. There are a lot of legal Email: [email protected] words, everything is in small print, Phone: 405-528-1900 and the way things are worded makes www.govoter.org it hard to understand if I am voting yes or no. I often cannot understand the ballot. I have to read the ballot over and over again and sometimes I still can’t understand what it means. It is frustrating to read something over and over again and not understand it. I know several people who have decided not to vote after trying and trying and still not understanding what a ballot measure said. I think that many more people would vote if they could understand the voting material without having to read them over and over again.
PAGE 1 NATIONAL TA CENTER FOR VOTING AND COGNITIVE ACCESS SPRING 2009 I have lived with a cognitive disability my whole life and it makes me upset when I hear people say that people with intellectual disabilities are not smart enough to vote and that we cannot make informed decisions. A lot of self-advocacy groups, including my group in Oklahoma, invite the league of women voters to help educate us about the voting process. We look at Candidates websites, listen to debates, fill out sample ballots, and talk about ads on the TV and Radio. I think that people with disabilities are sometimes more informed about candidates and issues then the general public. Most people I know, even those without disabilities, struggle to understand information on the ballot. I asked Gayle B. Gardner, a fellow SABE board member, about voting and she said “Voting is a very prestigious thing to do. I feel that voting is very important although it can also be very difficult. The questions are made in a way where you’re thinking yes is no and no is yes and it’s very confusing. If you don’t know the issues well then you can really get confused.” Imagine being able to read the ballot once and understand what it says. I want to be the most informed voter that I can be when I vote. If I can’t understand the voting guides then I cannot make educated decisions. Using plain language will help every citizen be the most informed voter that they can be.
New to www.GoVoter.org The National TA Center for Voting and Cognitive Access is giving our website a makeover. Here are a few of the highlights from our new website . Home page: new color scheme and redesigned navigation . About Us page: pictures and stories about the Vote Team, how we got started, our goals, funding, partnering organizations and brochure . In The News page: read news articles about voters with disabilities . Documents & Training page: We reorganized all of our materials to make them easier to find. We added a page for our newsletter and improved our list of links to organizations. The documents/video page and the training page have been reorganized to add new materials and graphics. Check out the new website on June 22nd and let us know what you think.
PAGE 2 NATIONAL TA CENTER FOR VOTING AND COGNITIVE ACCESS SPRING 2009 Plain Language Resources
What is plain language? Plain language is a way of writing that is clear and easy to understand. It allows the reader to concentrate on the message instead of being distracted by complicated language. Readers of plain language documents understand the message the first time they read.
Why use plain language? Did you know that the average American adult reads at a 9th grade reading level and nearly 25% of adults have a hard time reading basic signs and labels? Plain language is a tool to make sure you are sharing information in a way that people can understand it.
Plain language saves time and money for writers and readers. People understand information faster and more accurately when it is written in plain language. Organizations who have used plain language say they get fewer calls from customers who don’t understand the materials, they get more positive feedback from their customers, and more of their customers say they trust the company.
Plain language and voting Voting guides are a tool that many citizens use to get information about candidates and issues. Very few of these voting guides are written in plain language. They can be very difficult to understand for a majority of the public.
The League of Women Voters has developed Easy to Read Voter Guides in a few states. These easy to read guides include pictures, lots of whitespace, and explain what a “yes” vote means and what a “no” vote means. You can view examples of these guides online. California’s easy voter guide can be found at http://lwvc.convio.net/site/PageServer?pagename=eas yvoter_guide_ and Oregon’s easy voters guide can be found at http://www.disabilityrightsoregon.org/resources/5-publications- 1/november-2008-easy-voters-guide-english
PAGE 3 NATIONAL TA CENTER FOR VOTING AND COGNITIVE ACCESS SPRING 2009 Learning to use plain language Understandable information is different for different people. You should start by deciding who you want to share information with then you can start to write in a way that they will understand you. Here are a few free instructional guides that will help you get started.
- GUIDE TO WRITING UNDERSTANDABLE INFORMATION: This 9 page guide was created by the National TA Center to share basic tips for making materials understandable for people with intellectual disabilities. You can download this guide on our website at http://www. govoter.org/Documents Training/DocumentsVideo/tabid/73/Default.aspx
- THE PLAIN TRAIN: This free Plain Language Online Training Program will give you tips and techniques for improving your communication skills with the use of plain language. You can find the training online at www.plainlanguagenetwork.org/plaintrain/
- WRITING MATTERS Getting Your Message Across by Janet Pringle. This 85 page book is one of the most in-depth guides that we have seen. It covers the basic ideas of writing in plain language and also talks about writing for specific audiences. Chapter 6 shares information about writing materials for people with Developmental Disabilities. You can view this book online at http://www.nald.ca/library/learning/writmatt/03.htm
- A PLAIN ENGLISH HANDBOOK How to Create Clear SEC Document by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. This 77 page book covers the basics of writing government document using plain language and gives a lot of great examples. You can download this book online at http://www.sec.gov/pdf/handbook.pdf
- WAYS TO MAKE COMPLEX INFORMATION SIMPLE: The California Department of Developmental Services has created a guide for disability accessibility. This website gives advice on using plain language and writing with disability accessibility in mind. It shares pictures that you can use to make your materials understandable for people with low literacy. Visit their website at http://www.dds.ca.gov/ConsumerCorner/WaysComplex.cfm
- READING EFFECTIVENESS TOOL: Clear Language and Design created this interactive tool to help you find out if your draft manuscript is at the right Grade Reading Level for your intended audience. You can use their Reading Effectiveness Tool online at http://www.eastendliteracy.on.ca/ClearLanguage AndDesign/readingeffectivenesstool/
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Organizations Dedicated to Plain Language Several organizations have been created specifically to educate people about plain language. These groups advocate for plain language laws, educate people about the plain language movement, and provide technical assistance. Here are three of our favorite groups for PandA’s who are interested in Plain Language
1) The Center for Plain Language: is a non-profit organization which promotes the use of plain language in government and business communication. The Center works to transform how people think about communication, they educate people to demand plain language in public communications, and they help businesses and government to meet that demand. They publish a quarterly newsletter which you can find on their website. www.centerforplainlanguage.org
2) The Plain Language Action and Information Network: This group of federal employees started in the 1990’s. They believed that using plain language would save federal agencies time and money while providing better service to the American public. They run a website called plainlanguage.gov, provide editing for federal agencies, and sponsoring training events. Their website is full of educational tools, examples of plain language, and news from the plain language community. www.plainlanguage.gov
3) CLARITY International: This is a worldwide group of lawyers and people interested in promoting the use of clear language by the legal profession. They publish a journal called 'Clarity', sponsor international conferences on plain language, and run seminars on legal drafting. www.clarity-international.net
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A short history of plain language laws
In 1978, President Jimmy Carter issued an Executive Order which required federal regulations to be written in plain English. President Carter said that government regulations should be written in plain English that is understandable to the people who must comply with it.
In 1981, President Ronald Reagan removed the plain English requirement.
In 1998, President Bill Clinton issued a Presidential Memorandum that required all new regulations to be written clearly by 1999. Vice-president Gore started to present monthly “No Gobbledygook Awards” to federal employees who took bureaucratic messages and turned them into plain language that citizens can understand.
In 2009, two national plain language bills were introduced. Senate bill S574 is called the plain writing act of 2009 and can be found online at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:S.574: House bill HR946 is called the Plain Language Act of 2009 and can be found online at http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-946
You can watch Dr Cheek from the Center for Plain Language give testimony on a plain language bill at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kY5YP5cS8y0.
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