Plain Language Europe is a network of communications agencies that help companies communicate in straightforward language, both online and offline.
As part of this network, Supertext has been supporting Switzerland and – via its Berlin office – Germany for the past year. The agency recently concluded the pilot phase of a project for a major multinational insurance company.
Supertext was able to make use of a host of tried-and-tested tools in the process: workshops, e-learning courses and rewriting all help companies to start speaking plainly.
The network originated in the Netherlands, where banks, insurance companies and tax authorities are legally obliged to produce documents at a B1 language level. This guarantees that they can be understood by 95% of the population.
More and more companies are using plain language as a key instrument for targeted communication with clients. This demand led to Plain Language Europe’s decision to increase its pool of trained instructors at this year’s partner meeting. The Netherlands, France, the UK, Italy, Germany and Switzerland will all train more specialists according to strictly defined standards. These specialists will then offer workshops and rewriting services.
And we’ll see who else comes on board over the next year. Belgium and Spain have already indicated a need for plain language services.
Cover image via Supertext