b. What makes plain English writing different? (4 Marks)
What makes Plain English or Plain Language different is that it takes into account making content accessible for all readers, which means that by using simple language and words we can also provide content for people with literacy challenges ensuring that everyone can clearly understand the message. Additionally, it takes who the audience is into account before actually crafting content. Content that is meant for constitutional lawyers will not be the same as the content that is meant for backpackers, as they are both there for different reasons and most likely are looking to solve different needs and wants. We need to take time to fully understand what our target audience is looking for and how we can meet those expectations while using an active voice making it more engaging. As we discussed in class, before we craft content in plain language we first need to think of who our readers are, we need to take into account things like their lifestyles, why would they be reading our content, if we are giving them too much information or not, and more. We also need to think about whether the content written fulfills its goal, which would be that the audience understands it and if it solves what the audience was there for in the first place.
Plain English is different because people need it for various reasons, not everyone has a lot of time to read an entire page full of content, which is why it’s so important to give them the information they are looking for when they want it. Some other people need it because they are there for different reasons or simply don’t know the language well.