Plain Talk: Do People Get What We're Saying?

Plain Talk: Do People Get What We're Saying? 

Meaghan Hudak | Reading time: about 4 min

Communication is hard. Communicating health information to diverse audiences with low health literacy is particularly hard—and has high stakes. 
Plain language makes information easy to find, use, and understand for everyone—and makes healthcare systems more effective because patients understand what they need to do to manage their health. So, the question we must ask ourselves is, "Do people get what we're saying?" 

Attendees learned:  

• The importance of knowing their audience well enough to communicate effectively, 
• How to create content that is easy to scan, read, and understand, and
• How to use words that are meaningful to their audience. 

“Personal health literacy is the degree to which individuals have the ability to find, understand, and use information and services to inform health-related decisions and actions for themselves and others.”
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

What is Plain Language? 

Rick opened his presentation what the purpose of content and plain language is. The purpose of content is to communicate and the purpose of plain language is to help people understand. Plain language means your target audiences can find what they need, understand what they find the first time they read or hear it and use what they find to meet their needs. 

The audience is asked: Is it easy to find what I’m looking for? Do I understand what I find the first time I read it? Am I able to use what I find to meet my needs?

“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”
George Bernard Shaw, Author

Know Your Audience

Rick asked us to question who our audience is. A few questions to ask yourself include: 

• What do they already know?
• What do they need to learn?
• What do they care about?

Approximately 112.6 million adults are at or below Level 2 in literacy. Of these, 40.2 million are at or below Level 1. These stats spread widely across demographics, such as: age, Native/Non-native speakers, employment, education, gender, race/ethnicity, and region. 

Graphics: Common Language & Terms 

Inclusivity

Rick explained that inclusivity, also referred to as “universal design” and “design for all,” addresses a broad range of issues, such as:

• Accessibility for people with disabilities
• Access to and quality of hardware, software, and Internet connectivity
• Computer literacy and skills
• Economic situation
• Education
• Geographic location
• Culture
• Age, including older and younger people
• Language

Plain language guidelines include: knowing your audience, being helpful, being straightforward and using meaningful words. Knowing your audience: What do they already know? What do they need to learn? What do they care about? Being helpful: use a helpful tone, be a teacher and guide, organize and label content in a way that makes sense to your audience and make content scannable. Be straightforward: be purposeful, be concise, be upfront and trustworthy, be professional and human, and simplify complex ideas with visual / multimedia content. Use meaningful words: use common language and terms consistently, use active voice, write meaningful headings and use descriptive link text. 

Rick ended his presentation simply with,

"Plain language is customer service." 

If you missed Rick's presentation, check out the transcript and recording on the CCSQ World Usability Day page. This page also includes an archive of transcripts and recordings of speaker presentations, session materials, and event photos. For more information about the Human-Centered Design Center of Excellence, refer to the HCD CoE Confluence page.