The credibility of the standard
Why should I pay attention to this standard?
The standard is based on an internationally accepted definition of plain language. It was developed by an international committee of experts through ISO’s well-regarded consensus model. And is based on empirical evidence. So it has a lot of expertise and evidence behind it.
ISO standards present information that the experts involved have agreed on. In ISO’s description of what standards are, it says that “Standards are the distilled wisdom of people with expertise in their subject matter and who know the needs of the organizations they represent.” Standards are “a formula that describes the best way of doing something.”
It summarizes the information you’ve been using and perhaps provides information you are not aware of. This makes it a useful tool to quickly assess your work against, making sure you haven’t forgotten any of the dozens of steps you need to go through when writing or editing a document.
You can read a timeline about how the experts proposed and developed the standard.
Where is the evidence that the standard is based on?
Several of the experts who developed the standard have been working on research in this area for many years. And the other experts who provided input or comments have been following current research for several years.
The International Plain Language Federation has published a bibliography of some of the research that the standard is based on.
Why should I use this standard?
The ISO plain language standard provides a clear understanding of what plain language is and how you can achieve it. It will help you to give your intended readers the information they can easily find, understand and use.
How can you have standards for a field that involves some creativity and subjectivity, like writing?
When the plain language world first began to consider the possibility of a plain language standard, it grappled with whether standards have the capacity to govern something as subjective as writing. After all, writing in plain language involves at least some creativity. Not as much as is needed to create works of art but there is a level of creativity.
ISO’s experts removed this concern by pointing out that standards about good governance are subjective but can still set out what’s required. For example, requiring a board committee to manage governance and a governance policy that deals with certain topics
Those ISO experts also pointed out that there could even be a standard about writing poems. It could set set requirements, such as a sonnet is to have 14 lines with 10 syllables a line, and is to rhyme in one of the many patterns that are accepted as amounting to a rhyme. But it could be silent about the poem’s quality.
Are there other organizations that created standards and if so, why is ISO’s better?
The Plain Language Standard developed through the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is based on an internationally agreed on definition of plain language. It was created using a well-regarded consensus model. Experts from 25 countries (representing 19 languages) drafted and approved the standard.
For the first time, the world will have an agreed-on standard that tells people what plain language is and how to create plain language documents.
One benefit of an international standard is that everyone will be working from the same standard.
Why pay for the standard when I can use free online guides?
Until now, there have been no universally agreed-on standards for creating plain language documents or for determining whether something is plain. The ISO Plain Language Standard provides an agreed-on standard that tells people what plain language is and how to create plain language documents.
It summarizes the information you’ve likely been using and may provide ideas you are not aware of. This makes the standard a useful tool to quickly assess your work against. And it helps you make sure you haven’t forgotten any of the dozens of steps you need to go through when writing or editing a document.
We already use plain language principles, so why should we invest in the ISO standard?
Until now, there have been no universally agreed-on principles for creating plain language documents or for determining whether something is plain. What’s “widely recognized and adopted” often differs from person to person. The ISO Plain Language Standard provides an agreed-on standard that tells people what plain language is and how to create plain language documents.
ISO standards present information that the experts involved have agreed on. In ISO’s description of what standards are, it says that “Standards are the distilled wisdom of people with expertise in their subject matter and who know the needs of the organizations they represent.” Standards are just “a formula that describes the best way of doing something.”
It summarizes the information you’ve been using and perhaps provides information you are not aware of. This makes it a useful tool to quickly assess your work against, making sure you haven’t forgotten any of the dozens of steps you need to go through when writing or editing a document.