MEMORANDUM
FROM THE
SIMPLIFICATION CENTRE
INTRODUCTION
As a research centre addressing the problem
of over-complex information, we welcome your inquiry into official
language.
We don't believe you will be short of examples
of jargon, so instead of providing more, we would like to draw
attention to some wider issues such as the causes and costs of
poor communication.
DIFFERENT SORTS
OF JARGON
Official language (like other sorts of writing)
can suffer from jargon and difficulty for various reasons:
— technical terms used to communicate to
a non-technical public;
— familiar words, misunderstood because
they are being used in a specialised sense;
— a long, rarer (usually Latin-based) word
used where a short, familiar (usually Anglo-Saxon-based) word
would do just as well;
— euphemisms designed to avoid blunt references
to difficult subjects;
— worn out clichés (especially management
ones) which irritate, even if we know perfectly well what they
mean;
— long sentences with complex structures,
so that we've forgotten the beginning by the time we reach the
end;
— poorly structured text—such as
when concepts are explained in a different part of the document
from where they are used;
— documents that become bloated because
they attempt to cover all circumstances; and
— lack of visual design to help people
understand the structure of a document and read it strategically.
UNDERLYING CAUSES
OF JARGON
Although good documents often look as if they
were easy to write, clear writing is actually a highly skilled
task. Government employs a large number of communications specialists,
but traditionally defines communications largely in terms of either
media relations or public information campaigns. Things like forms,
guidance, and financial statements are the communications that
actually deliver services to individual citizens, but they are
usually the responsibility of operational departments.
THE NEED
FOR SKILLS
In our experience, the people who have the job
of writing public information documents are often untrained, or
minimally trained, and little relevant training is actually available
to them. Information writers often work at a junior level and
do not feel able to challenge text written by senior people, and
legal specialists in particular. In some cases, information documents
intended for the public have to include forms of words that come
directly from legislation.
THE COST
OF POOR
INFORMATION
Poorly designed information is enormously costly—error-prone
forms have to be returned and corrected, and needless enquiries
are made to government helplines. These costs are rarely addressed
in reviews of potential savings, but we believe they are considerable.
So investing in document design, training and user-testing is
well worthwhile.
We hope that by highlighting good as well as
bad examples of official language the Committee will be successful
in sparking a debate on how to raise standards further. We would
welcome the opportunity to be a part of that debate.
ABOUT THE
SIMPLIFICATION CENTRE
The Simplification Centre is a new research
centre established at the University of Reading, funded by the
university and by member organisations (typically government departments,
and large financial services companies). It is staffed by people
who have combined careers in research and practice, with many
years of experience in simplifying and testing information documents.
You can find more information about the Centre
at www.reading.ac.uk/simplification. We run a research programme,
and offer our members services that include document appraisal,
training and seminars.
April 2009
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