Document Checklist for Plain Language on the Web
Use this checklist to see if your document meets plain language standards. (If you are writing for the web, here's the additional weblist.) Click on the links for a brief explanation of each standard. You can find more extensive discussions of these standards throughout this website, especially in the "howto" section.
| written for the average reader organized to serve the reader's needs has useful headings uses "you" and other pronouns to speak to the reader uses active voice uses short sections and sentences uses the simplest tense possible—simple present is best |
uses base verbs, not nominalizations
(hidden verbs) omits excess words uses concrete, familiar words uses "must" to express requirements; avoids the ambiguous word "shall" places words carefully (avoids large gaps between the subject, the verb and the object; puts exceptions last; places modifiers correctly) uses lists and tables to simplify complex material uses no more than two or three subordinate levels |
