Our Easy Read Standards Project
In September 2024, Disability Equality Scotland helped to start the UK Easy Read Standards Working Group.
The group has worked together to write a set of standards for Easy Read in the UK. These are guidelines that show how we use language, pictures, and formatting when making Easy Read.
We are now testing the standards we have written, to make sure they work well.
In 2026, we will review the standards, to see if anything needs to be changed. Then we will publish the standards for all Easy Read writers and users who want to be involved.
What Easy Read is
Easy Read:
- is an accessible communication format used widely in the UK
- uses simple language, pictures, and a clear layout
- was originally designed with and for people with a learning disability
- is also used by many other people
- is written by lots of different people and organisations in the UK.
About the UK Easy Read Standards Working Group
Our group has over 40 members, from over 20 organisations in the UK. Everybody in the group works with people who need or prefer Easy Read.
The standards aim to represent the most usual way of doing things when writing Easy Read in the UK.
We know that there is no 1 correct way to write Easy Read. Different audiences need different ways of writing, and Easy Read writers need to make decisions that are right for their readers – this means that writers need to work closely with readers.
Why we need Easy Read Standards
These standards are a way to:
- share ideas from all the good Easy Read work that is already going on
- make sure that all UK Easy Read is high quality and useful for its readers
- make sure that new Easy Read writers can write Easy Read in a way that we know works well.
Get involved!
If you work in Easy Read in the UK and would like to get involved with this group, please email: training@disability.scot.
To learn more about how Disability Equality Scotland can support with Easy Read training and translation, visit our Easy Read information page.