Government readability and accessibility
Initiatives in plain language have developed in the past 30 years in English-speaking governments around the world, most notably in the United States Plain Writing Act 2010. Although Australia does not have similar national legislation, more than 40 individual laws require plain language across all states and territories.
Government audiences include people with different education levels and people whose first language is not English. So government content is often required to meet specific targets for readability levels. These are generally measured against school grades (see Readability targets for different users). The target reading level is often set at lower secondary: years 7–8.
All Australian Government websites must adhere to the international Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). More strategies for accessible content and websites can be found in Accessibility.
Plain legal language
The plain legal language movement has a long history. Early publications include Language of the law by David Mellinkoff in 1963 and Plain English for lawyers by Richard Wydick in 1979. In 1983, Clarity(Opens in a new tab/window)(Opens in a new tab/window) was established as an international association promoting plain legal language.
From these beginnings, lawyers and governments have increasingly embraced plain legal language. Many countries and states now have rules and guidelines around the use of plain language in contracts, insurance policies and government regulations. Law courses in universities include instruction on how to achieve plain legal writing.