Audiences may have similar interests, but no two people are exactly alike. Accessible communications take into account audience diversity and barriers that exist. Printed materials and online screens may be a barrier for people with vision, learning or cognitive disabilities. Audio recordings will be a barrier for those that are hearing impaired. While large type and Braille may allow some members of your audience to better understand and more easily respond to the information, there are other helpful ways to satisfy the total audience.
During emergency situations when information must be delivered quickly and clearly, accessible information is essential to making decisions, giving and taking directions and acting rapidly. So all forms of contact – computer, tablet, email, smartphone, text, etc. – must be available to get the word out. After all, four alarm fires, tornados and pandemics wait for no one.
Plain, clear, grammatically correct writing, preferably in the readers’ first language, is essential to easy, immediate comprehension. Written content must support the purpose of the information conveyed and must be relevant to the reader. What’s easy for one person to understand, may be impossible for someone else, and may not translate well into another language. Don’t let the information get lost in translation.
By removing unnecessary adverbs, modifiers, and redundant words, the audience will better understand what the message is, and the words will be stronger and more powerful. Don’t “dumb down” but direct the message to the particular audience. To quote Mark Twain, “Don’t use a five-dollar word when a fifty-cent word will do.”
For any communication to be successful, it must follow the best practices of graphic design. The key elements of which include the best uses of typography, color, white space, organization and hierarchy. Content must be well organized and related information appropriately grouped in a hierarchical fashion.
The most important and frequently used information being effectively highlighted and positioned so the user can easily locate it. More importantly, the appropriate use of typography both in font choice, size and leading will allow the user to find and read desired information easily and quickly.
Industry jargon is only understood by people within the industry or someone who has spent a long time understanding the particular industry. The average consumer whether in financial services, insurance or healthcare will not understand the industry jargon. Replace industry jargon with easy-to-understand terms and phrases in plain language directed at the specific audience. In some case, the industry terms must appear, in that case a plain language definition would be appropriate. Replacing industry jargon with easy-to-understand terms and phrases will allow the consumer to more easily understand the communications.
he font sets the tone of your communication. First, it must be of a size and style that’s easy to read. That usually means no less than 10 or more than 12 points for paragraphs and most content with larger font sizes reserved for headlines and subheads. “Simple and clean” is the mantra when deciding on the typeface.
Second, keep bold, italic, and upper case to a minimum. Underlining usually points to a hyperlink so avoid underlining and it harkens back to the days of typewriters when underline was the only way of emphasis. If you must emphasize certain information, limit it to just one form. Never use more than one form of emphasis for the same piece of content.
Remember all capitals letters is the hardest thing to read. In fact, it reduces readability by up to 20%.
Color can be an effective tool in creating clear communications. There are five reasons to use color for clear communications. In order of importance, they are:
When using color to highlight text, be careful to use a color that contrasts with the black of the rest of the text. Also, don’t overdue highlight color in the text as too much will defeat the importance of the text that is highlighted. Color is used for visual contrast, and must be selected with care to prevent the communication from looking like a ransom note.
Don’t forget, there is “color” in black & white communications. Be mindful of how the color of the font affects the communication.
For statements, invoices, letters, notices, etc., there is one idea that is not understood. That is white space. Some people look at “white space” as an area in a communication to be filled up but that is not the case.
Properly used white space allows the eye to travel throughout the communication and easily find information. Or to put it another way, white space is not blank or empty space in the communication, but space that allows the reader for see content and easily move from one group of content to another. If used correctly, white space will be the defining tool to help make any communication readable and accessible.
White space, unlike the other elements of design, is perhaps the most important attribute of all.
Nothing beats testing with the people who directly interact with the communication. This is the only proven way of finding out how people think and act. The choice by clear communications experts is the In Depth Interviews (IDI) method.
Using the IDI method of usability testing will provide results that are true and will support successful communications. The In Depth Interview uses one-on-one interviews that allow companies to understand how customers find information, understand the information they have found and how they act on that information.
Usability testing will help to provide communications that have been tried and proven to the audience. If tested correctly and created to meet the standards of the three pillars of Clear Communications – Find, UNderstand and Action – the communications will succeed. All content that proves a barrier to this, should be removed or improved. If any of the Clear Communications pillars are not met, the communications will fail.
The IDIs need to be conducted by an independent third party and should include all audiences that touch the communications both internally and externally.
Receiving communications should be the choice of the recipient, not the sender. Every person has a preference for how they want their communications delivered.
The choices range from hard copy paper sent by mail, to PDF documents and images delivered digitally, or a complete interactive digital application including social media posts and messaging. Each delivery method has its own unique limitations and therefore its own unique design requirements. What works perfectly on a full sheet of paper does not translate to a small telephone screen. These challenges must be anticipated and overcome.
Companies need to be prepared to deliver communications in a variety of ways and let the recipient choose the way they want to receive them.
Communicating clearly, accurately and without muddle is a commandment that will help ensure the future security, accuracy and peace of mind of all.
When poor communications become destructive to the unalienable rights of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness and result in Frustration, Confusion and Upset, it is the right, nay it is the duty, of all those who communicate publicly to throw off poor communications, and demand clear, unadulterated information for their Future Security, Accuracy and Peace of Mind in all dealings, and that of all others.
The effectiveness of any business communication is largely dependent on the clarity of the communication. The sequencing and placement of messages on a page, the words and phrases used, the sizes and styles of fonts chosen, the accessibility and usability of the message, the understanding of the recipient and other factors like these will dramatically impact the clarity of a communication and create a better customer experience.