Plain Writing Act of 2010: Guidance

The new Plain Writing Act of 2010 (Public Law 111-274) requires U.S. federal executive branch agencies to communicate to the public in clear, easily understood language. The law defines "plain writing" as "writing that is clear, concise, well-organized, and follows other best practices appropriate to the subject or field and intended audience."

The law also requires the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to issue guidance to agencies on implementing the new practices. OMB issued interim guidance to agencies on 22 November 2010 (M-11-05, Preliminary Guidance for the Plain Writing Act of 2010). The OMB memorandum provides a fuller description of plain writing:

Plain writing is concise, simple, meaningful, and well-organized. It avoids jargon, redundancy, ambiguity, and obscurity. It does not contain unnecessary complexity.

Further assistance comes from two websites, PlainLanguage.gov and Webcontent.gov. PlainLanguage.gov is managed by the Plain Language Action and Information Network (PLAIN), an interagency group that has been active for over 10 years. The new Plain Writing Act designates PLAIN as the official interagency working group assisting in developing compliance guidance. PlainLanguage.gov already provides documents to assist agencies, including their existing Federal Plain Language Guidelines. The site also links to plain language examples and resources that may be of use to any organization. PLAIN offers a twitter feed, govplainlang, with news and writing tips.

WebContent.gov, operated by the Federal Web Managers Council, provides information on plain writing for the web on their page Writing for the Web/Plain Language.

The Plain Writing Act requires OMB to issue its final guidance to agencies by 13 April 2011.

Comments

[Irwin Berent]

You may be interested in knowing more about the entire legislative process behind the ultimate passage of the Plain Writing Act of 2010. The Plain Writing Association has just completed on our website (www.plain-writing-association.org) a history of the several versions of the bills that ultimately led to the Act. This not only tells the story of the legislation but gives a good idea of how bills such as this become law.