People
… in Germany depend on information being made available to them in easy language – a language style from the field of accessibility that is understandable to all people with a simple sentence structure, hardly any foreign words, and additional explanations. It is aimed in particular at people with learning difficulties, educational disadvantages, or low German language skills.
Thus, easy language is a highly simplified form of the German language – it is on the linguistic competence level A1 – A2. It has a simpler grammatical structure and is geared more toward information content than toward aesthetics or “beautiful” language style.
The most important distinction: Particularly in German, there are fixed rules for easy language (DE: Leichte Sprache), published by the Netzwerk Leichte Sprache e.V.. For plain language, there is an international organization called Plain Language Association International (PLAIN), providing guidelines for English-speaking countries. For plain language, the rules are less strict than for easy languages and more text complexity is allowed.
Some of the most important rules are:
Short, concrete sentences with one statement per sentence, if possible no subordinate clauses
Avoid technical and foreign words or at least explain them
Use active voice as much as possible and avoid passive voice
Do not use genitive or subjunctive constructions
Only with information in plain language can people with learning difficulties, with educational disadvantages or people with a migration background and German as a foreign language master their everyday lives. All the more important that as many texts as possible are available in plain language!
For this reason, there has already been a comprehensive legal obligation since 2018 for the public sector to offer a large proportion of all texts in plain language and to make information accessible to all people in this way.
The topic is also becoming increasingly important in the private sector: comprehensible and inclusive communication with customers and employees can, for example, reduce costs or prevent a shortage of skilled workers. From 2025 at the latest, there will also be a legal obligation for the private sector to make products and services offered online accessible.
Easy language provides value in diverse areas
Healthcare
Gesundheitswesen
Texts in easy language can help patients communicate with doctors and understand diagnoses, treatments, and medications. Accessibility is essential, especially when it comes to information about treatments or taking medications.
Media
Medien
By offering content in easy language, the media landscape can tap into a large, additional target group, not only for news but also for entertainment topics such as fashion, music, and sports. Comprehensible reporting safeguards democracy, prevents disinformation, and enables political participation.
Insurance und Finance
Versicherung und Finanzen
Texts in easy language can help consumers understand complex products, e.g. insurance and credit conditions or financial investments. The Barrierefreiheitsstärkungsgesetz (Accessibility Enforcement Act) also makes plain language mandatory in these areas.
Social and integration work
Sozial- und Integrationsarbeit
Texts in easy language can help people with learning difficulties and people who do not speak German as their native language to communicate. In this way, appropriate information and handouts ensure that those affected, for example, find out about offers of help and can make informed use of them.
Education
Bildung
Easy language helps students to understand complex topics. Especially in special education schools, easy language is a critical component. It can also be used in (school-based) vocational training for people with little language skills and in foreign language training.
Public administration
Öffentliche Verwaltung
The use of easy texts helps citizens understand critical information, enabling them to better exercise their rights and duties and to minimize interactions with staff to clarify matters. Furthermore, there are legal obligations to offer easy language for government agencies.
Easy language, Plain language –
And how exactly do you implement accessible text?
Further answers to important questions in our blog!
Achtung: Verwechslungsgefahr! Leichte Sprache, Einfache Sprache, und viele mehr
Im Verständlichkeits-Universum tummeln sich neben der Leichten...
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