plain-languagelisted

# plain-language ## Purpose Write so that a reader finds what they need, understands it the first time, and can act on it. This guide is based on the Federal Plain Language Guidelines, which support the Plain Writing Act of 2010. Plain language is not simplified language. It does not remove detail. It puts the reader ahead of the writer. ## Choosing between this and Simplified Technical English - Use plain language when a general public reader must decide or act. - Use Simplified Technical English when a technician follows a procedure. - Follow one standard in one document. Do not mix them. The two standards disagree in places. Plain language allows contractions and asks for a conversational tone. Simplified Technical English forbids contractions, because they are hard for a reader whose first language is not English. The reader decides which standard wins. ## Audience - Identify your reader before you write, and learn what they must do. - Address the reader directly as `you`. - Separate the guidance for each audience when one document serves several. ## Organization - Put the main idea before any exception or condition. - Start each section with the point, not with the background. - Give each paragraph a topic sentence. - Write headings that state the content, and prefer the question the reader asks. - Use a list when the text holds several conditions, steps, or items. - Use transition words to show how one idea follows another. ## Words - Use the simple word in