The Plain Writing Act of 2010 (Act) requires Federal agencies to communicate clearly in a way “the public can understand and use." The employees of the Social Security Administration communicate daily with members of the public, local government agencies, advocacy groups, Congressional offices, and even the White House.
Commitment To Communicating Clearly
Our complex programs are often hard to explain. However, we strive to simplify the language we use in our written communications.
We recognize the importance of communicating in a way that is clear and concise. Communication is a large part of our service delivery. We affirm our commitment and dedication to improving our written materials using plain language standards. We are developing easily understood written communications and training our employees to include plain writing standards in our overall business processes.
Since the inception of the Act, we trained every agency employee in plain writing. We continue to offer annual training opportunities and reinforce the importance of communicating clearly. We are developing new ways to obtain and learn from our customer feedback. We will use this information to further refine and simplify our communications. We encourage you to review our implementation report and compliance reports under “Related Information.”
Let Us Know How We’re Doing
Staff dedicated to oversee and coordinate our plain writing efforts:
- Agency Plain Writing Contact
Steven Patrick, Associate Commissioner for the Office of Public Inquiries - Plain Writing Contacts
We invite you to share your recommendations on ways to improve our written communication. Let us know if you have trouble understanding a form, notice, pamphlet, or any of our webpages. Write us at PlainWriting@ssa.gov. We value your input!