2.14 Write With Purpose, in an Accessible, Easy To Understand Format

Everyone should be able to understand what you’ve written without wasting time staring at a screen or jumping from page to page looking for answers, whether they have accessibility requirements or not. This also means avoiding using technical language (without explanations) and including enough information to help direct people (and search engines) from page to page.

Criteria

Write Clearly: Content is written clearly, using plain, inclusive language delivered at an easy-to-understand reading level considering accessibility and internationalization inclusions as required (for example, dyslexia).
Content Formatting: Content is formatted to support how people read online, including a clear document structure, visual hierarchy, headings, bulleted lists, line spacing, and so on.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO): SEO has been prioritized from the early design stages and throughout a product or service’s lifecycle to improve content findability.

Impact

Low

Effort

Low

Benefits

Environmental:
When people can quickly find and comprehend the content they need to make informed decisions, they use less time and resources, which reduces energy use and lowers emissions.
Social Equity:
Inclusive language that avoids jargon, gendered terms, and so on can improve the user-experience for a broader audience.
Accessibility:
Plain-language content that can be quickly skimmed is easier to understand, especially for people with cognitive disabilities. Moreover, good document structure works better for assistive technologies such as screen readers.
Performance:
Good document structure improves search performance as the content will likely rank higher in search engines, which can help people more quickly find the content they need.
Economic:
Being an authoritative source on a subject can have a positive financial impact on your business, as it can bring income through multiple streams.
Conversion:
Content that is well-written and authoritative will be cited by third parties and can lead to an increase in traffic.

GRI

materials: Medium
energy: Low
water: Medium
emissions: Low

Example

CodePen’s plain English terms of service agreement are easy to read.

Resources

View the Guideline