Why you (and your business) should care about the Plain Language Act 2022

In a competitive market, ensuring your message successfully reaches your target audience is more important than ever. And now, for some organisations, it is a legal requirement.

In April 2023, the Plain Language Act (PLA) 2022 came into effect. The act requires New Zealand public service agencies – like the Inland Revenue Department and Ministry for Primary Industries – and Crown agencies to ensure documents available to the public have language that is “appropriate” and “clear, concise, and well organised.”

Even if you and your brand/business aren’t legally required to ensure your content or documents meet the PLA, it’s not a bad idea to develop and adopt plain language standards that suit your business. Supporting ‘plain language’ within your business will not only keep the needs of your audience at the heart of everything you do, but when the layout of your website, subscriber newsletters and even social media captions are written in ‘plain language’ your message won’t get lost in the endless stream of content.

Clear communications that reflect your brand’s values is more likely to drive positive business outcomes – and who doesn’t want that?

What does ‘plain language’ look like?

Successful use of ‘plain language’ takes three things into account: the big-picture purpose of the writing, the language used, and how it is presented. For example:

• Is its purpose clear from the start?

• Is it structured in an easy-to-navigate way?

• Are the sentences straightforward?

• Is the tone appropriate for the audience?

• Does the design take accessibility into account?

‘Plain language’ makes all the difference between this 63-word, made-up refund policy:

Customers are eligible for a full refund of purchase if they can provide evidence of a receipt (which is from a purchase made either in-store or online from within the past two weeks), the undamaged purchase meets the $100 maximum threshold (i.e. the total cost of the purchased items does not exceed $100), and they did not make the purchase with store credit.

and

Within fourteen days of purchase, customers are able to get a full refund if:

• They have a receipt;

• The item(s) are undamaged;

• The total refund is for no more than $100; and

• The purchase was not made with store credit.

If you’re ready to change the way you reach your customers and start your ‘plain language’ journey, reach out to the team at Publik.

Here’s what we can help with:

• Developing a ‘plain language standard’ for internal and external communications that works for you and your business/brand.

• Reviewing and updating any existing content or documents to make sure they meet a ‘plain language’ standard.

• Training employees in the use of ‘plain language’ and accessible design standards, to maximise your audience reach.

• Creating a bespoke marketing and communications strategy to help you grow your business!