Access Easy English: consumers

Friday, 10 December 2021

ASID Conference 2021 and Easy Read. Part 2

More on Deborah Chinn's presentation at ASID 2021. Read the previous blog for more information.

Deborah referred to some agreed ideas such as

- use of images

- positioning images to the left

- using easier language.

Deborah's research from the UK pointed out the texts varied significantly and the target audience also varied. See our blog on Deborah's paper Developers perspectives. In the UK, Easy Read is developed and presented as content for people with intellectual disability only.

Note:Scandinavian countries focus more on the literacy needs of people who are not native speakers of the language. Many European countries also focus their Easy Read as being for people with intellectual disabilities.

In contrast Easy English is targeted at anyone who needs content written in a simple and clear manner. We choose language and images based on the target audience of each document.

Deborah advocated there is a need for more for research into the value of Easy Read for the target audiences.

This is an important point. There are many examples of Easy Read in Australia and they also vary widely in their design and readability, which is the same issue in the UK. This makes it hard for the reader to know what to expect of a document labelled Easy Read. These are some Australian Easy Read examples. Mental Health and 3rd interim report on the Disability Royal Commission

We know Easy Read is not as accessible as Easy English for more people with low literacy. We have consumer reviews of our documents and positive feedback from users of Easy English. However research of outcomes for consumers is welcome. These are some Easy English examples which have been consumer reviewed. NSW Ombudsman How to make a complaint and the Women with Disabilities Australia Our report to the Disability Royal Commission. About group homes part 1 (scroll to the Safety from Violence section)

It would be great to see some specific research that compares Easy Read and Easy English from the consumer perspective. It will important to measure not only the readability of documents but the outcomes for readers. This may provide clearer evidence and guidance for developing standards to produce simplified documents. It will be important to research this with different audiences – non English speakers, people with cognitive disabilities and those whose literacy skill do not allow them to access the information they want or need.

It also needs to be with naive readers of both Easy English and Easy Read.

Rachel Tozer

Access Easy English

Telephone: 0466 579 855

Email: rachel@accesseasyenglish.com.au
Website: https://accesseasyenglish.com.au/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/accesseasyenglish

Blog: http://accesseasyenglish.blogspot.com.au
Twitter: @accesseasyengli

LinkedIn Cathy Basterfield

Thursday, 9 December 2021

ASID 2021 and Easy Read. Choice and power. Part 1

Day 2 of the ASID conference offered 2 presentations in the keynote session about Easy Read.

First up Dr Deborah Chinn presented her findings and thoughts about Easy Read in the UK.

The presentation identified that some of the Easy Read documents reviewed in the health topics in the UK were very directive and often did not offer choice and power to the reader. This was identified as an issue and raised the question about the purpose of the Easy Read documents. Deborah observed that some documents may have been designed to make the experience easier for staff, rather than assist the reader to make decisions.

This is an important point. Human rights legislation upholds the right of people with disabilities to plan and make decisions about their own lives. There is an emphasis on supported decision making rather than substitute decision making (where others make a considered decision on behalf of another person).

I reflected on this point and our use of Easy English in Australia. Easy English (and Easy Read) can be used to give information, but can it also used to describe choices and options.

Easy English can be designed for any type of document.

One obvious application is an Easy English version of a goal planning document. This should be all about choice – choose what you want to do, choose what help you want, choose who, when and where.

Contracts and agreements may offer choices of who to share information with, how a person would like to receive information. When we do consent for research in Easy English, it is important to include statements about

- why the research is being done

- where the information will go

- who gets to see your personal information

- can you stop being part of the research.

There are yes/no questions about each of these key statements. Is this providing choice and power to the reader?

Look at these examples of Easy English to see how choice is included and described: