Plain Language Guide (Digital.gov / PLAIN)
The Plain Language Action and Information Network’s (PLAIN) guidance for clear government communication, now hosted at Digital.gov. Covers principles, writing, design, and testing for content that readers can find, understand, and use.
Note: The original site plainlanguage.gov redirects to digital.gov/guides/plain-language (301 redirect). All snapshots were fetched from the digital.gov URLs.
License: Public domain — U.S. federal government work (17 U.S.C. § 105).
Key points
Principles (see Plain Language): write for your specific audience; lead with the most important information (inverted pyramid); use topic sentences; one topic per section; summarize lengthy documents up-front.
Writing: active voice over passive (identifies who does what, eliminates responsibility ambiguity); present tense (simpler, more direct); avoid nominalizations / hidden verbs (“conduct an analysis” → “analyze”); plain words over jargon; consistent terminology throughout.
Design: headings as navigation; lists for parallel items (enable scanning); tables for comparison data; bold/italics sparingly; avoid ALL CAPS (slower to read, aggressive tone); avoid underline for non-link text (reserved for hyperlinks); White Space reduces perceived density.
Testing: paraphrase testing (individual interviews, best for short content); usability testing (longer documents, websites, and forms); controlled comparative studies (larger scale validation). Iterative: test early with drafts, correct, test again. Focus groups measure attitudes, not comprehension — wrong tool for clarity testing.