Disability Equality Scotland At 20: Easy Read

Easy Read versions can support more people to read and understand your information.  Reaching a wider audience – what organisation doesn’t like that? It’s mainly used by people with a learning disability, but Easy Read is also useful for people with other communication difficulties including:

  • people who find reading difficult
  • people with cognitive impairments such as dementia
  • people with hearing impairment whose first language is British Sign Language (BSL)
  • people who do not speak English as their first language
  • It’s often a go-to document for anyone to get the main points of a topic, before deciding if they want to read the main document.

The Easy Read service doesn’t just translate reports.  We also work on surveys, meeting minutes, and agendas.  Easy Read surveys support you to get a diverse mix of responses.

It’s good practice to publish an Easy Read version when you publish the original document.  It shows your commitment to being inclusive and accessible.

Give us enough time to meet your deadline.  It takes around 2 weeks for us to complete a document, depending on its length and complexity of language.  If you’re doing a survey, give people 3 weeks to reply once it’s been published.

You can pre-book our time if you know your deadline.  This makes sure we have space to work on your document. This also helps us deal with competing demands.

As our prices are based on word count, think about the length of the document you’re sending us.  Do you have a summary we could use?  This means the price would reduce, and it will take less time.

Be prepared to compromise.  Easy Read uses a chatty, informal style that’s free from jargon.  It might not be what you’re used to, but it will help your documents be understood by more people.

It’s really easy to get in touch with us.  Email shona@disabilityequality.scot or call 0141 378 6783 to ask any questions.  Email your document and we’ll get a cost and timescale back to you as soon as we can.

You can find examples of the Easy Read Team’s work, and more information about the Easy Read service at: www.disabilityequality.scot/easy-read-service

We’re really looking forward to hearing from you!

Best wishes from Shona and Claire from the Disability Equality Scotland Easy Read Service.