Is easy language the same?

Easy language follows strict rules (one sentence per line, no secondary sentences, pictures). The criterion requires less: simple language at the lower level. Easy language fulfills it and goes beyond.

Does the whole website have to be in simple language?

No. The ambitious version may remain; A simple version or summary for texts above the level is added.

Can an AI write the simple version?

As a draft, yes; it’s good at shortening sentences and replacing words. Whether the version is correct in content and meets the level, a person checks, preferably from the target group.

This translation has not been editorially reviewed yet. The German version is authoritative. Deutsche Fassung

Accessibility

How understandable does a text have to be and when does it need a simple version?

A text that takes nine years of schooling excludes many people: with learning disabilities, dyslexia, low literacy or other first language. Criterion 3.1.5 of level AAA requires that a text requiring more literacy than the secondary level (approximately nine years of schooling) receives a supplementary version not exceeding this level: a summary, a simple language version or an explanation with pictures.

What the Criterion Requires

The measure is the reading level after about nine school years. Any texts above that need a supplementary version which does not exceed it. The supplementary version shall bear the contents in full; A summary must therefore state everything essential. Excluded are proper names, titles and texts, the content of which is itself demanding (a legal text remains a legal text), but there too a statement that reaches the level helps. The criterion does not require easy language according to the strict rules; simple language with short sentences, familiar words and clear outline.

How to measure the level

For German, there are readability formulas that value a level from sentence length and word length: the Viennese factual formula and the Flesch formula in the German adaptation. They are rough, but for the question “is the text well over nine school years” usable. A better sample is a reader from the target group: If he can not reproduce the text in his own words, it is too heavy. Authority texts, contracts and data protection declarations are almost always far above the border.

This is how we deal with it

The measurement calculates a readability estimate of sentence and word length per page and can thus say which pages are far above the level and whether a simple version is linked. Whether the version bears the content, judges a person. The criterion belongs to the category AAA in knowledge; the estimate is indicative in the report.

Examples

Number of authorities without simple version

Not met

<p>Die Gewährung der Beihilfe setzt voraus, dass der Antragsteller seinen Hauptwohnsitz im Gemeindegebiet hat und das Haushaltseinkommen die in der Verordnung festgelegte Einkommensgrenze nicht überschreitet.</p>

Passes

<section aria-labelledby="einfach">
  <h2 id="einfach">In einfacher Sprache</h2>
  <p>Sie bekommen die Beihilfe, wenn zwei Dinge stimmen: Sie wohnen in der Gemeinde. Und Ihre Familie verdient nicht mehr als die Grenze. Die Grenze steht in der Tabelle unten.</p>
</section>
<p>Die Gewährung der Beihilfe setzt voraus, …</p>

The ambitious version remains; A summary at the level of the sub-level is added.

Estimate the level of your most important pages with a readability formula; anything over nine school years gets a supplementary version.
For each of these pages, write a summary in simple language: short sentences, one thought per sentence, familiar words, examples.
Set the simple version visibly at the beginning of the page or link it to the first place.
Have the version read by a person from the target group and reproduce it in your own words.

Deutsche Fassung dieser Seite