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.
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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
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Plain Language —Our goal is to promote the use of plain language for all government communications.
News and Events on Writing
28 posts
Plain Language
Plain Language Basics: Online Workshop
Take this three-hour online workshop to learn how to write and edit in plain language.
Plain Language
Plain Language Basics: Online Workshop
Take this three-hour online workshop to learn how to write and edit in plain language.
Video
Writing for the Accessible Web
Learn how to write and design web content that is accessible for everyone.
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.
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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.
Designing for Translation
Simple planning steps to successfully adapt content into multiple languages
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.
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.
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
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,
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
The Content Corner: Will You Read This Entire Post?
Deep down we’ve always known that people only read a small portion of any content shared online. In many ways that can’t be fixed but there are ways to help people read more or at least scan better. There was a book I loved as a child that featured the Sesame Street character Grover, titled
Transcreation: Why Do We Need It?
Transcreation is a relatively new term that blends the words translation and creation. In a nutshell, transcreation involves taking a concept in one language and completely recreating it in another language. A successfully transcreated message (either written or visual) evokes the same emotions and carries the same implications in the target language as it does
The Content Corner: Four Ways to Help Your Content Stand Out
When discussing trends for 2016, I made some mention of the content overload that started in 2015 but will certainly increase in 2016. Contently recently found that organizations created 73% more content in 2015 than in 2014. I see no reason why that number will decline in 2016, especially as content becomes the beast of
