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When people have difficulty reading, information in an Easy Read format helps them to understand it. Easy Read documents come in a particular format that combines simplified language with carefully chosen images.
Easy Read documents are accessible to people who struggle to read, so many people with learning disabilities, autistic people and people with severe dyslexia in particular benefit from getting their information in this way. People who struggle to concentrate, perhaps due to mental health problems or medication, as well as people who don’t speak English as a first language and people with low literacy can also really appreciate information in Easy Read format.
Long blocks of text, specialist or complicated language, long sentences, and trying to convey too many things at once can all prevent somebody from accessing information. Easy Read documents, on the other hand, eliminate those barriers, including imagery to back up each sentence or paragraph, and help people to understand anything from political election promises to Covid vaccine information.
When organisations want to prevent information in an Easy Read format, they are often concerned about:
- how to word things more simply
- how to format the document
- which images are best
- which points to include and which to omit
- how long the document should be
- what colours and fonts to use
- what to do if jargon or difficult language is essential
- whether to present it as a Word document, a PDF or an image file
- how to incorporate branding or style guide
With my experience as a disabled journalist who writes predominantly about issues affecting the disability, as well as a sensitivity reader focusing on disability issues and working in comms for a disability charity, I have the knowledge, experience and understanding to produce Easy Read documents that will help you to reach your audience.
Get in touch to find out more.