Another attempt at plain language
Tobias Bengfort <tobias.bengfort@posteo.de> Tue, 01 September 2015 23:20 UTC
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From: Tobias Bengfort <tobias.bengfort@posteo.de>
Subject: Another attempt at plain language
Date: Wed, 02 Sep 2015 00:47:22 +0200
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Hi, I would like to discuss the possibility of a "plain" language subtag. This has been discussed before in 2006[1], but I feel like many important aspects were not brought up back then. Accessibility is a major concern for modern web development, and plain language is part of that domain. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0)[2] name "Understandable" as one of four overarching principles. And while plain language is not mentioned in the standard itself, it is extensively references in the supporting documentation[3]. Plain language is not only considered to be important. It is actually used. There for example is now also a plain english wikipedia[4]. And the US Plain Writing Act of 2010 requires federal executive agencies to use plain language[5]. When I asked about this topic on stackoverflow[6], the first response was to simply reuse an existing language tag (e.g. 'de') without further modification also for plain language. I believe it is important to make the distinction because it would allow third party services (e.g. search engines) or assistive technology to make use of that information. Apart from that, software systems simply need different names for different translations and as explained above, maintaining separate translations for plain languages is already wide spread. It would just make sense to standardize these names. In 2006, the question came up whether "plain" is a distinct variant of a language or merely a style[7]. It was argued that also "the boundaries between languages and dialects certainly aren't [precise]"[8]. Apart from that, at least some plain languages use a restricted or modified grammar. For example in "leichtes Deutsch", composite nouns need to be separated with dashes[9]. Another proposal in 2006 was to use an extension subtag, e.g. 'x-plain'. This has the benefit of being valid without approval by this group. But it is not a standard that might improve accessibility beyond the boundaries of a single application. I think the final blow to the idea in 2006 was that there is no well-recognized universal definition of plain language.[10] So much for summerazing and commenting the old discussion. I also want to bring a new idea to the table: Would it be possible to signify the language proficiency of the targeted audience? There are formal definitions of these, e.g. CEFR[11], ACTFL[12], or ILR[13]. For example, 'de-cefrb1' would be for people with a german CEFR level of B1 or above. The big advantage of this approach is that the variants would be flexible and clearly defined. However, they would hardly describe real language variants. They would also cover similar, but not the same cases as plain language because, as described above, plain language may have a modified grammar. To some up, I think that having a standard way to name plain languages could help web accessibility and accessibility in general a lot. But I also understand the issues involved. I really hope we can come up with a solution that works for everyone. Tobias Bengfort [1]: http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.ietf.languages/3692 [2]: http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20/#understandable [3]: http://www.w3.org/TR/UNDERSTANDING-WCAG20/meaning-supplements.html [4]: https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_English_Wikipedia [5]: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-111publ274/html/PLAW-111publ274.htm [6]: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/32326180/ [7]: http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.ietf.languages/3692/focus=3693 [8]: http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.ietf.languages/3719/focus=3721 [9]: http://leichtesprache.org/images/Regeln_Leichte_Sprache.pdf [10]: http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.ietf.languages/3719/focus=3697 [11]: https://www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/Cadre1_en.asp [12]: http://www-01.sil.org/lingualinks/LANGUAGELEARNING/OtherResources/ACTFLProficiencyGuidelines/contents.htm [13]: http://www.govtilr.org/index.htm
- Another attempt at plain language Tobias Bengfort
- RE: Another attempt at plain language Doug Ewell
- Re: Another attempt at plain language Mark Davis ☕️
- RE: Another attempt at plain language Doug Ewell
- RE: Another attempt at plain language Phillips, Addison
- Re: Another attempt at plain language John Cowan
- Re: Another attempt at plain language Michael Everson
- RE: Another attempt at plain language Doug Ewell
- Re: Another attempt at plain language John Cowan
- Re: Another attempt at plain language Tobias Bengfort
- Re: Another attempt at plain language John Cowan
- RE: Another attempt at plain language Peter Constable
- Re: Another attempt at plain language Martin J. Dürst
- Re: Another attempt at plain language Mark Davis ☕️
- Re: Another attempt at plain language Michael Everson
- Re: Another attempt at plain language Mark Davis ☕️
- Re: Another attempt at plain language Doug Ewell
- Re: Another attempt at plain language Mark Davis ☕️
- RE: Another attempt at plain language CE Whitehead
- Re: Another attempt at plain language Doug Ewell
- Re: Another attempt at plain language Kent Karlsson
- RE: Another attempt at plain language Shawn Steele
- RE: Another attempt at plain language Doug Ewell
- Re: Another attempt at plain language Tobias Bengfort
- Re: Another attempt at plain language Tobias Bengfort
- Re: Another attempt at plain language Kent Karlsson
- Re: Another attempt at plain language Kent Karlsson
- RE: Another attempt at plain language CE Whitehead
- RE: Another attempt at plain language Doug Ewell
- RE: Another attempt at plain language Doug Ewell
- RE: Another attempt at plain language Shawn Steele
- Re: Another attempt at plain language John Cowan
- RE: Another attempt at plain language Shawn Steele
- RE: Another attempt at plain language Shawn Steele
- Re: Another attempt at plain language David Starner
- RE: Another attempt at plain language Shawn Steele
- RE: Another attempt at plain language Shawn Steele
- Re: Another attempt at plain language Tobias Bengfort
- Re: Another attempt at plain language Michael Everson
- Re: Another attempt at plain language Michael Everson
- Re: Another attempt at plain language Tobias Bengfort
- Re: Another attempt at plain language Michael Everson
- Re: Another attempt at plain language Mark Davis ☕️
- Re: Another attempt at plain language David Starner
- RE: Another attempt at plain language Shawn Steele
- Re: Another attempt at plain language John Cowan
- RE: Another attempt at plain language Shawn Steele
- RE: Another attempt at plain language Shawn Steele
- Re: Another attempt at plain language John Cowan
- RE: Another attempt at plain language Shawn Steele
- Re: Another attempt at plain language Doug Ewell
- Re: Another attempt at plain language Michael Everson
- RE: Another attempt at plain language Shawn Steele
- RE: Another attempt at plain language Shawn Steele
- Re: Another attempt at plain language Felix Sasaki
- Re: Another attempt at plain language Michael Everson
- Re: Another attempt at plain language Michael Everson
- Re: Another attempt at plain language Michael Everson
- Re: Another attempt at plain language Kent Karlsson
- RE: Another attempt at plain language Peter Constable
- RE: Another attempt at plain language Peter Constable
- Re: Another attempt at plain language Kent Karlsson
- RE: Another attempt at plain language Phillips, Addison
- Re: Another attempt at plain language Tobias Bengfort
- RE: Another attempt at plain language Peter Constable
- RE: Another attempt at plain language Peter Constable
- RE: Another attempt at plain language CE Whitehead
- RE: Another attempt at plain language Shawn Steele
- Re: Another attempt at plain language dzo
- Re: Another attempt at plain language Felix Sasaki
- Re: Another attempt at plain language Michael Everson
- Re: Another attempt at plain language Michael Everson
- Re: Another attempt at plain language Tobias Bengfort