Federal Plain Language Guidelines Download the Guidelines: PDF |
Word | What we changed in this revision The Plain Language
Action and Information Network (PLAIN) is a community of federal
employees dedicated to the idea that citizens deserve clear
communications from government. We first developed this document
in the mid-90s. We continue to revise it every few years to
provide updated advice on clear communication. We hope you find
this document useful, and that it helps you improve your writing
— and your agencys writing — so your users can - find what they
need, - understand what they find; and - use what they find to
meet their needs. We’ve divided the document into five major
topics, although many of the subtopics fit within more than one
topic. We start with a discussion of your audience because you
should think about them before you start to write your document
or your web content. In fact, you should start to think about
them before you start to plan. From there we move to
organization, because devel