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Writing Grades Drop As Federal Agencies Struggle With Staff TurnoverWASHINGTON, Oct. 12, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Center for Plain Language has issued its annual Federal Plain Language Report Card. The report, announced by Congressman Dave Loebsack (D-IA), grades federal government agencies on their writing and organizational compliance with the Plain Writing Act of 2010 – the law that requires government writing to be clear, concise, and well-organized. Grades in this year's Report Card slumped, with C replacing B as the average writing grade. "Here's something all Americans can agree on – government webpages should be clear and easy to use," said Congressman Dave Loebsack. "That's why I'm troubled that so many agency webpages are still laden with jargon and acronyms and focused more on themselves than the everyday people who need government services, data, and help. We can do better. And there's a law on the books that says we have to do better." The report card evaluated 23 Executive Branch agencies, including all 15 cabinet-level departments, in terms of both writing and organizational compliance (maintaining the staffing, training, and reporting required by the Plain Wrting Act). We found a notable drop in both organizational compliance and writing quality since 2015.
"With so much turnover, agencies need to restart their plain language programs," said David Lipscomb, who led this year's Report Card. "Then writing grades will jump back up." The Center for Plain Language, a non-profit organization, helps government agencies and businesses write clear documents. The Center also urges people everywhere to demand plain language in all the documents they receive, read, and use. For more information, visit: centerforplainlanguage.org.
View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/writing-grades-drop-as-federal-agencies-struggle-with-staff-turnover-300729071.html SOURCE The Center for Plain Language |