Within society the ability to quickly read and digest information varies massively.
Reasons why people have a lower ability to comprehend English text includes having missed out on school, dyslexia, attention deficiency and English being a second language. These are not necessarily true and many people in these groups can read and write English text better than many doctorates. However part of the oppression of these groups is often shown in lower levels of literacy.
It is important that in our campaigns we do not discriminate against those who have reduced literacy and are already discriminated against generally in society. We in Hands Off Our Homes have learnt we have a particular need to be sensitive to this because the bedroom tax effectively targets groups who are likely to have lower levels of literacy.
Below are a set of basic guidelines of how to make your campaign materials more accessible. An example of how Hands Off Our Homes has attempted to do it can be seen in our advice sheet.
1. Don’t use underline, italics or all caps. All these can make letters seem to run into each other and should be avoided.
3. Use a clear font. Use fonts without ‘serifs‘ that do not have lines on the ends of the letters and are evenly spaced. Good fonts to use include Arial, Veranda and Tahoma. If you are using LibreOffice try DejaVu Sans Mono.
OpenDyslexic is a free font specifically for dyslexic readers and can be downloaded here.
4. Use simpler sentences. Try and reduce punctuation other than full stops. Try not to use sub clauses which make a sentence difficult to follow. Keep sentences short and digestible.
5. Use off-white paper. The glare of bright white paper can make it difficult to read text for some people. Try and use a dull but light colour paper such as a dull yellow.
6. Reduce and explain jargon. This is a difficult one as often what we are campaigning for or against and our broader beliefs often require jargon to explain concisely. Try and write as you would talk and make sure any necessary jargon is explained.
7. Use a larger font and spacing. Don’t use a font size smaller than 12. Make sure there is a decent gap between lines.
8. Don‘t just have a wall of text. A flyer that is just unformatted text will put off many readers before they even start and be particularity difficult to read for those who have lower levels of literacy. Break up text with subheadings in bold, bullet points and lists. You can also make use of pictures and diagrams but make sure they actually help explain what you are trying to say.
9. Don‘t be patronising. Being sensitive to the needs of people with lower levels of literacy does not mean we need to simplify our politics. Reducing our ideas to merely slogans helps no one. Dyslexics and others with lower levels of literacy are likely to be put off your campaign if you treat them like children. Take the time to explain in accessible language rather than skipping what is important.
10. Draft and redraft. The above tips are easy to follow if you take your time to produce your material. Draft your text and then go through it looking for parts that might be difficult to understand. We all have limited time and writing marital is often a rushed process but if you slow down your time can be used much more effectively.
Other advice can be found here:
Am I making myself clear? Mencap’s guidelines for accessible writing (pdf): http://www.accessibleinfo.co.uk/pdfs/Making-Myself-Clear.pdf
How to write accessible web content: http://knowhownonprofit.org/how-to/how-to-write-accessible-web-content
Dyslexia style guide: http://www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/about-dyslexia/further-information/dyslexia-style-guide.html
Guy Mitchell