Plain language in the United States government
Written for Clarity, Journal of the International association promoting plain legal language, Number 55 (2006)
Through the late 1990s, plain language began to gain a foothold in the United States government because of the support from the Clinton administration, especially Vice President Gore''s National Performance Review. We were seeing many examples of plain language in the private sector, and this encouraged the government's efforts. The current administration does not have a formal plain language initiative. However, a mandate for communicating clearly with the public is part of the administration's philosophy and many agencies have strong, active plain-language programs in place.
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
FAA has been building a plain language program since 1999, when a survey of an important customer group, commercial pilots, revealed dissatisfaction with the clarity of FAA's standards and regulations. I work at FAA, in the Office of the Administrator, and help with plain-language projects in all parts of the agency, especially regulations and guidance material intended for the public. We have a program to train employees in plain language, which so far has reached over 2000 employees. The FAA has made important progress in plain language, but has a long way to go.
FAA hosts the government-wide plain language site, www.plainlanguage.gov, as well as the monthly meetings of the government-wide plain language group, PLAIN. The FAA's Administrator, Marion Blakey, is very supportive of plain language and has become a spokesperson for the government-wide initiative. The FAA has a plain language website for employees.
Federal Register
The Office of the Federal Register, which publishes all federal regulations in the Code of Federal Regulations, encourages agencies to use plain language. In 1996, the Register redid its handbook for regulation writers--the Document Drafting Handbook--to conform to plain language principles. It has produced two excellent aids to plain language, "Making Regulations Readable" and "Drafting Legal Documents". You can find these tool on their website at http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/write/plain-language/.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Many offices within FDA, such as the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research and the Center for Devices and Radiological Health, now stress how important it is to send their messages to the public in clear language. They seek input from the public, through public meetings and usability testing, about what communication works and what doesn't, especially in communicating health risks.
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
NIH has a plain language coordinating committee that meets regularly and helps spread the word about clear writing to all the NIH Institutes and Centers. Every year the agency hosts a large awards ceremony, recognizing the effort to communicate clearly in various ways, from technical reports to pamphlets for general audiences to websites. The agency developed an on-line tutorial in plain language, targeted to medical writers.
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
In his first speech to the staff of the SEC, current SEC Chairman Christopher Cox said that former SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt's effort "to encourage writing in plain English is still dead on. And when it comes to exhortations to write in plain English, the SEC has to practice what it preaches in its own rules and publications. Continuing to advance this noble initiative of my predecessors is but one of many ways in which I hope to build upon the successes of the recent past, and to ensure continuity, clarity, and consistency in the SEC's policies." The SEC has stepped up its efforts to promote plain English in financial disclosure documents such as the management discussion and analysis section of the annual report. According to Business Week (September 26, 2005), the SEC has instructed companies that they must "tell investors the good, the bad, and the ugly about what's happening in their business--in plain English."
Social Security Administration
Social Security's biggest achievement has been the plain language version of the statement all workers 60 years old and older receive about their personal earnings and benefit estimates. Inspired by a 1989 Congressional mandate, the finished product was mailed to citizens starting in late 1999. The new statement has been well received, and is credited with helping Americans better understand Social Security. The notice won a No Gobbledygook Award from Vice President Gore.
Veteran's Benefits Administration (VBA)
VBA teaches new employees clear writing skills, using site instructors trained using al satellite-training program. As well as a Reader-Focused Writing Tools course (the basic satellite course) VBA now offers regulation writing, a manager's briefing to teach managers to review and support clear writing, and a briefing paper course. VBA has also developed a format for Congressional responses based on meetings with Congressional staffers.
PLAIN--the Plain Language Action and Information Network
The voluntary group of federal employees dedicated to making their agencies more sensitive to the need to communicate clearly, has been meeting monthly since the mid-1990s. In early 2005 the group launched a redesign of its website, www.plainlanguage.gov, developed by volunteers. The group continues to offer free half-day sessions introducing federal employees to plain language principles.
What's next?
Overall, the United States federal government still adheres to a writing style that is overly complex, bureaucratic, and difficult, but demand for plain language is growing. I get requests every week from one agency or another for plain language training. Much of this interest comes from the increasing focus on the internet as a means of communication. Many people who routinely turn out bureaucratically written paper documents recognize that this style won't do on the web. More plain language private sector documents are appearing, and this encourages and empowers those in the government who try to write more clearly. It also helps them convince their colleagues to use plain language.
I am cautiously optimistic about the future of plain language in the federal government. Progress has been slow, but continuous. It seems to be gaining a bit more momentum. I think the next several years will see a healthy growth in government interest in quality communication. However, we still have a long way to go.