Plain Language Community Around the United States
The United States is fast becoming a leader in the world-wide plain-language movement. In addition to government efforts, several important non-profit organizations and groups of professionals support the movement.
External links are shown with a "
".
Non-profit organizations
The Center for Plain Language is a federally tax-exempt non-profit membership organization made up of people in government, academia, and business who are dedicated to promoting and supporting plain language in the public and private sectors.
The Legal Writing Institute is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving legal writing by providing a forum for discussion and scholarship about legal writing, analysis, and research. One of its major activities is to give a Golden Pen Award to recognize persons who have significantly advanced the cause of better legal writing.
The Burton Foundation is a volunteer, non-for-profit, academic organization concentrating on legal writing. The Foundation sponsors an awards program that rewards partners in law firms and law school students who use plain, modern language and avoid archaic, stilted legalese.
Journals
The "Plain Language" column in the Michigan Bar Journal has been publishing articles on plain legal language for more than 20 years. It is the longest-running column on legal writing. The site includes a list of columns and links to many of the more recent ones.
Over the years, The Scribes Journal of Legal Writing has published many influential and widely circulated articles on plain language.
Associations
The Association for Business Communication is committed to fostering excellence in business communication scholarship, research, education, and practice.
The Association of Professional Communication Consultants is a network of professionals providing communication expertise and solutions.
The Society for Technical Communication includes technical writers, usability specialists, technical editors, information architects, managers, teachers, Web designers, translators, and many others interested in clear technical communication.
State and local governments
The Washington State Government has been involved in the plain language movement since the mid–1990's.
Texas has a plain langugage contracts project.
When Charlie Crist of Flordia took office as governor in January 2007, one
of his first acts was to issue a plain langugage executive order. Florida now has an entire site devoted to plain language.
The Quality and Productivity Commission, established by the Board of Supervisors of the County of Los Angeles, also has its own site.
Here's a great resource to help you build a business case for using plain language within your organization: Easy to Read NYC: Guidelines for Clear and Effective Communication
.
