Easy English vs Easy Read
Why Easy English is the best choice?
Difference at a glance
Easy English example
Easy English
- developed in Australia since 2005
- has evolved
- measurable & repeatable elements across format, linguistic elements and images for people with low literacy
- uses universal design & incorporates plain language principles
- designed for any person with low literacy, including those people with intermittent or situational low literacy.
Easy Read example
Easy Read
- in 2005 and continues now, to be complex linguistically
- extensive cognitive load for the reader, including visually cluttered
- most often uses photos of people with intellectual disability
- readers recognise it is more complex than Easy English
- does not use universal design or plain language principles.
Easy English content 2022
Easy Read content 2022
70% of the content in Easy English was under 500 words in length.
Only 16% of Easy Read content was less than 500 words in length.
Findings replicate finding from 2017, 2019, 2020.
Graphs below are some analysis for content under 500 words in length.
Average length of sentence
Flesch-Kincaid reading equivalence
Average suffixes per document
Difference in detail
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Easy English |
Easy Read |
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|---|---|---|---|
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Flesch - Kincaid Reading equivalence range |
Range: Grade 0 to Grade 3. |
Range: Grade 3 to grade 12. |
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Flesch - Kincaid Reading equivalence average |
Grade 2. |
Grade 5. |
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Sentence length |
5- 8 words |
11 - 14 words |
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Use of hard words |
Never. Uses the words known to the audience. |
Introduces hard words, and then continue to include throughout text. Increases cognitive load. |
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Use of if...then... statements |
Never |
Included |
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Image |
Front cover |
Always included. Image and text which tells the reader what it is about. |
Not always included. Image and text often corporate. Image may not be included at all. |
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Headings for images |
Always has an image for headings |
Never |
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Number of images per page |
Maximum 4 |
5 - 7 images per page |
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Text in images |
Never |
Often - text in an image is a barrier |
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White space |
Lots of white space |
Congested spaces |
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Image type |
Specific. Reflects message and audience need. Will choose images that meet need. Use photos only of people or places in the text. |
Non specific. Can be generic photos that are not reflective of the text. |
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Length of document |
Maximum of 20 pages of correctly formatted text and images. |
Often 40 or 50 or more pages of text and images. |
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Consumer review |
With people with low literacy. This person does not see themselves as a reader, and does not regularly try to read content. |
Unknown. |
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Easy English example
Easy Read example
Reference to Sierra's handout.
Learn more about our training and webinars, purchase our guideline.
You want to know more
Zero Conference 2023
At the UN, February 2023.
A summary of Cathy's presentation.
Literacy and access to written information
Lunch Time Webinar
What's in a name Easy English or Easy Read - Easy Read Poster 2023
IALP 2023
UN CRPD -> Damien
Translating documents into Easy English
In 2021, Cathy was invited on to the Speak Up: Speech Pathology Australia Podcast.
She discusses how speech pathologists can use Easy English with host Anneke Flinn. Also available at: Apple Podcasts, Spotify
More evidence of difference.
Easy English - Easy Read Poster 2021
IASSIDD, Amsterdam Virtual conference
Fact sheets by Access Easy English （dummy)
Posters. Easy English, Easy Read comparison
Posters. Accessible written content
Easy English. Easy Read. What's it all about?
Audit your Easy English document
Competing factors in Easy Read: producer perspectives.
- Consumer testing RT
- Which image? JV
- Digital literacy CB
The team are currently writing a series of fact sheets. At least 4 topics. We will have plain language version and Easy English version for
Easy English v Easy Read, Images, Consumer reviews, Using Easy English – what supports may a person need.
Research published by Cathy Basterfield (check link!!)
research ??
2019 Intellectual Disability Australasia journal
By Cathy Basterfield
Article 2019
By Cathy Basterfield
Everyday words. What does it mean for Accessible Written Documents
Other research
Buell, S. (2019) An open randomized controlled trial of the effects of linguistic simplification and mediation on the comprehension of “easy read” text by people with intellectual disabilities. J Appl Res Intellect Disability. 2019;00:1–13
Chinn (2019) Talking to producers of Easy Read health information for people with intellectual disability: Production practices, textual features and imagined audiences. J IDD Vol 44. No. 4 pp 410-420.