Writing

Resources on Writing

PlainLanguage.gov —A guide to making copy clear and easy to understand.
Style Guides by Government Agencies —This page is a collection of style guides created by government agencies.
Plain Language Web Writing Tips —On the Web, people are in a hurry. They skim and scan, looking for fast answers to their questions, so it’s important to get to the …

Join a Community of Practice

Federal Communicators Network —We help federal communicators achieve excellence by providing training, opportunities for professional networking, sharing resources and …
Plain Language —Our goal is to promote the use of plain language for all government communications.

News and Events on Writing

29 posts

Plain Language

Plain Language: Accessibility for Content

Learn what the plain language and accessibility communities share: opportunities to help people get and understand information. Find out what you can do to help.

Bethany Letalien

Katherine Spivey

Alex Wilson

Mar 10, 2021

Marketing

Five Insider Secrets to Engaging Emails

During Federal Social Media Week we shared how email can be a powerful tool in your customer experience toolbox.

Victoria Wales

Peter Lenentine

Gabrielle Perret

Feb 26, 2021

Plain Language

Plain Language Basics: Online Workshop

Take this three-hour online workshop to learn how to write and edit in plain language.

Katherine Spivey

Sep 10, 2020

Plain Language

Plain Language Basics: Online Workshop

Take this three-hour online workshop to learn how to write and edit in plain language.

Katherine Spivey

Aug 11, 2020

Video

Writing for the Accessible Web

Learn how to write and design web content that is accessible for everyone.

Ryan Johnson

Mar 20, 2020

Video

Principles of Speaking Plainly

This seminar adapts principles of plain language to the context of speaking, covering not only wording but also structure and integration with visual aids.

Christopher ‘Chip’ Crane

Katherine Spivey

Apr 10, 2019

Video

Managing Your Plain Language Career

We’ll discuss how to document and publicize your formal and informal plain language work — teaching, training, reviewing, or copyediting.

Mar 13, 2019

Designing for Translation

Simple planning steps to successfully adapt content into multiple languages

Laura Godfrey

Dec 20, 2018

New USAGov Program Aims to Help Agencies Market Within the Federal Government

The Outreach and Marketing team from USAGov helps agencies amplify their key messages through a variety of channels.

Claire Loxsom

Apr 02, 2018

The Data Briefing: How to Build a Chatbot in a Weekend

As chatbots have become more popular, some online sites will let you create a chatbot with little or no programming.

Bill Brantley

Sep 27, 2017

Webinar Recap: Plain Language Action and Information Network (PLAIN) June Meeting

This month’s Plain Language of Community Practice meeting featured Katherine Spivey’s presentation, Plain Language Spectrum: Every Step Counts! In this highly useful DigitalGov University (DGU) webinar, she explains how you can move forward with plain language even when you don’t have permission to edit copy, followed by a half hour Q & A session. Many

Samantha Hinz

Jun 30, 2017

Build Your Audience by Hosting a Twitter Chat

Twitter is more than just a platform for sharing news and updates: it can be a tool for directly communicating with your community and understanding what is important to them. One way you can connect with your Twitter audience is by hosting a Twitter Chat. They can be a good way to discuss key topics,

AIDS.gov

May 01, 2017

Writing for the Web Is Easy. Writing for Users Is Not.

We all do it. Whether on Twitter, Facebook, or the comment section on a news article, it’s easy to get our writing on the internet. Many of us have personal websites or contribute to blogs. We work at organizations with content management systems that allow us to publish pages with a single button click. The

Chris Goranson

Emileigh Barnes

Phoebe Espiritu

Nov 07, 2016