Easy Language: Rules, Benefits and Implementation
Easy language makes content accessible to millions of people in the first place. Learn who it is for, which rules apply, what the law requires and how to offer it on your website.
What is easy language – and who is it for?
Easy language is a strongly simplified form of written language with fixed rules for word choice, sentence structure and layout. In Germany it is known as Leichte Sprache; in the UK, a closely related concept called Easy Read combines short sentences with supporting pictures. Both were developed together with the people who need them. The goal is not elegant style but maximum comprehensibility.
Easy language primarily helps these groups:
- People with learning disabilities or cognitive impairments
- People who are learning the language or have recently moved to the country
- Adults with low literacy – studies suggest several million affected adults in Germany alone
- People with dementia, aphasia or other conditions that make reading difficult
Beyond that, almost every reader benefits from clear, short texts: anyone who is in a hurry, reading on a phone or encountering a complex topic for the first time understands simple sentences faster. Comprehensibility is not a special accommodation – it is good communication design.
Easy language or plain language?
The two terms are often confused, but they mean different things:
| Easy language (Leichte Sprache / Easy Read) | Plain language | |
|---|---|---|
| Rules | Fixed rule set, very strict | Guidelines, more flexible |
| Language level | Roughly A1–A2 | Roughly A2–B1 |
| Audience | Primarily people with learning disabilities | Broad audience, e.g. government or expert communication |
| Layout | Large type, many paragraphs, often pictures | Regular layout possible |
In short: plain language is simplified standard language. Easy language goes considerably further and follows its own rule set. Both can make sense for an accessible website – what matters is that you clearly label which form you offer.
The most important rules of easy language
The rule sets contain many individual rules. The core principles are:
- Write short sentences – one idea per sentence.
- Use active voice: "The office checks your application" instead of "The application is checked".
- Avoid difficult words. If a technical term is necessary: explain it.
- Break up long compound words, for example with hyphens.
- Avoid metaphors, irony and idioms – they are taken literally.
- Avoid complex grammar such as subjunctives and double negatives wherever possible.
- Use bulleted lists instead of long chains of clauses.
- Address readers directly.
Layout is part of the concept too: large type, left-aligned ragged text, each sentence on a new line or in its own paragraph, plenty of white space and supporting images. Those images then need good alternative text – we explain how in our article on writing alt text.
Before and after: an example
| Before (standard language) | After (easy language) |
|---|---|
| Applications for the benefit are to be submitted to the responsible authority together with the required documentation, whereby a processing time of several weeks is to be expected. | You want to apply for money? This is how it works: Go to the office. Bring your documents. The office checks your application. This takes a few weeks. |
The example shows the principle: the content stays the same, but each sentence now carries a single idea, the language is active, and the structure walks the reader through the process step by step.
What the law says
For public-sector bodies in Germany, easy language is a binding requirement. The Disability Equality Act (BGG) obliges federal authorities to provide more information in Leichte Sprache. The BITV 2.0 ordinance additionally requires public-sector websites to offer explanations in easy language – covering, among other things, the site's essential content, its navigation and the accessibility statement. The federal states have comparable rules, and the UK public sector has a long-standing Easy Read practice for official information.
Offering easy language on your website
In practice, three building blocks have proven effective:
- A dedicated easy-language page that explains the most important content of your website: Who are you? What do you offer? How does the site work? How can people reach you?
- A clearly visible entry point, for example a link or toggle in the header of every page. Many websites use the well-known easy-language symbol or a clear label such as "Easy language" or "Easy Read".
- Unambiguous labelling: readers should see at a glance that they are on the easy-language version and how to switch back.
On the technical side: the easy-language page needs its own stable URL, must be reachable by keyboard and should be findable from any page within a few clicks. A toggle that shows the current page directly in easy language is the most convenient solution – that way all of your content stays accessible, not just a single overview page.
Quality assurance: involve review groups
Whether a text is genuinely easy to understand is not decided by its author – but by its audience. That is why quality assurance includes review by people with learning disabilities. Such review groups read the texts, flag difficult passages and give feedback until the text is understandable. Many easy-language agencies offer this review as a service; reviewed texts are often allowed to carry a corresponding quality mark.
If a formal review is not feasible, simple tests already help: ask people outside your team to read the text and retell it in their own words. Every passage that needs explaining is a candidate for the next revision.
How AI can help with easy language
Translating content into easy language takes effort – especially when a website has many pages and its content changes regularly. This is exactly where AI models can help: they translate existing content into easy-to-understand language automatically and keep that version up to date, without you having to maintain every page twice.
That way you combine the best of both worlds: the reach and freshness of automatic translation with human quality assurance. Your website becomes usable for far more people – and clearer for everyone.
Wave Access uses AI to translate the pages of your website into easy language – at the click of a button for your visitors, with no duplicate content to maintain.
Discover Wave Access →