Plain Language: Getting Started or Brushing Up

This website consists of five sections and a checklist you can print. In each section, you will find a number of cards you can flip through to learn about using plain language in your work. When you are done with the final section, you can print a certificate of completion.

Where would you like to go? If you are new to plain language, begin with Before You Start Writing .

Close-up of a woman writing on a pad
Before You Start Writing
Illustration of silhouetted people standing on a grid
Connecting with Your Readers Connecting with Your Readers
Close-up of a business man holding a stack of papers
Presenting Your Information Presenting Your Information
A pen resting on top of a printout of a bar chart
Formatting and Visual Clarity Formatting and Visual Clarity
Close-up of a woman with a laptop and a writing pad
Testing and Revising Testing and Revising

The plain language content presented here is also available as a

.