IDA Magazine Vol 40 Iss 2 (June 2019)

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ACCESSIBLE INFORMATION: CATHERINE’S EXPERIENCE I might give feedback about: ● ● images that don’t make sense ● ● confusing images - I might say an image needs to change and explain why ● ● hard words that haven’t been explained ● ● information that is repeated or not important ● ● my own personal experiences - sometimes I even give new ideas I’ve also given feedback in focus groups about the best pictures and words to use in Easy English documents. It’s good that I can give my ideas to make Easy English better. How often do you do consumer testing? I do lots of activities now I’m in the NDIS, so I can’t do as much consumer testing. I can work one morning a week. I think I do a good job because I keep getting asked to come back! Tell us about your awards Last year I won three awards for the work I’ve done at Scope. I won two Scope awards: a seasonal and annual award. I also won a DHHS Victorian Disability Award as part of Scope’s Accessible Information team. The award was called Excellence in Employment Outcomes.It was wonderful to have my family, including my sisters and son, come along and see me accept the awards on stage. I was also given a beautiful painting by an artist called, Barb Edis, who is part of the Scope community. I love it. It’s a painting of trees in a paddock. It’s hanging up in my kitchen so I can see it when I’m preparing dinner. It makes me feel proud of the work I’ve done. Catherine Caterinich in conversation with Caroline Livanos • ccatarinich@gmail.com 14 www.asid.asn.au
PLAIN LANGUAGE; EASY ENGLISH. WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN? Cathy Basterfield Summary ● ● Plain Language and Easy English are two different ways that we can create Accessible Written Information. ● ● Everyone has different literacy skills. ● ● Our ability to read, understand and interpret what that information means for us can also be different. It can depend upon the topic, and our lived experience of that topic. ● ● The format used (plain Language or Easy English) will depend on the literacy needs of the intended audience. Over the years, organisations and governments are becoming more aware of the need for Accessible Information. The term Accessible Information is not universally understood and means different things for different individuals. For example for someone from the Deaf community, it may be interpreted to mean having Auslan video clips of information. For someone who has low vision it may mean having the information in a large font such as size 18 font. For everyone in our community it is about having information that is easy to read and understand, irrespective of the topic and irrespective of the person’s literacy. Unfortunately, most content written for the public does not meet the basic criteria of being easy to read and understand. The language used is often very technical or only understood by people who work in that industry, for instance, medical staff. Sentence construction is often complex with many unwieldy embedded phrases, and multiple ideas in one sentence. Most sentences are constructed in a passive manner, Eg: ‘The man was seen by the shark.’ A simpler, easier sentence is an active one Eg; ‘The shark saw the man.’ Plain Language is one means of adapting information for the audience. But, what is Plain Language? And who is the audience for Plain Language? The current definition of Plain Language internationally is: A communication is in plain language if its wording, structure, and design are so clear that the intended audience can easily find what they need, understand what they find, and use that information.’ (International Plain Language Federation, 2019; International Plain Language Federation, 2019.) Vol 40, Issue 2, June 2019 15
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IDA Magazine Vol 40 Iss 2 (June 2019)

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