Clear Language July 2025 (#341)

---------

Co-authored-by: Kevin White <[email protected]>

Author: kfranqueiro

guidelines/groups/text-and-wording.json

@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
   "children": [
     "text-appearance",
     "text-to-speech",
-    "clear-meaning",
-    "simplified-written-content"
+    "clear-language"
   ]
 }

guidelines/groups/text-and-wording/clear-language.md

@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+---
+children:
+  - clear-structure
+  - short-blocks-of-text
+  - sentence-structure
+  - common-words
+  - abbreviations
+  - non-literal-language
+  - verb-tense
+  - numerical-supplements
+  - unambiguous-numerical-formatting
+  - visual-aids
+  - summaries
+  - topic-sentence
+  - unambiguous-pronunciation
+  - review-process
+  - style-guide
+  - training-policy
+status: developing
+---
+
+Users can understand the content without having to process complex or unclear language.
+
+:::ednote
+This guideline will include exceptions for poetic, scriptural, artistic, and other content whose main goal is expressive rather than informative.
+
+To ensure this guideline works well across different languages,
+members of AG, COGA, and internationalization (i18n) agreed on an initial set of languages to pressure-test the guidance.
+The five "guardrail" languages are:
+
+- Arabic
+- English
+- Hindi
+- Mandarin 
+- Russian
+
+We started with the six official languages of the United Nations (UN). Then we removed French and Spanish because they are similar to English. We added Hindi because it is the most commonly spoken language that is not on the UN list.
+
+The group of five languages includes a wide variety of language features, such as:
+
+- Right-to-left text layout 
+- Vertical text layout
+- Tonal sounds that affect meaning
+
+This list doesn't include every language, but it helps keep the work manageable while making the guidance more useful for a wide audience.
+We will work with W3C’s Global Inclusion community group, the Internationalization (i18n) task force, and others to review and refine the testing and techniques for these requirements.
+We also plan to create guidance for translating the guidelines into more languages in the future.
+:::

guidelines/groups/text-and-wording/clear-language/abbreviations.md

@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+---
+status: developing
+type: foundational
+---
+
+Explanations are available for the first use of abbreviations, acronyms, initialisms, and numeronyms.

guidelines/groups/text-and-wording/clear-language/clear-structure.md

@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+---
+status: developing
+type: foundational
+---
+
+Content has a meaningful and understandable structure that clearly indicates the purpose of each section.

guidelines/groups/text-and-wording/clear-language/common-words.md

@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+---
+status: developing
+type: foundational
+---
+
+Common words are used, and definitions are available for uncommon words that the target audience is unlikely to know.
+
+:::ednote
+This requirement will include tests and techniques for content that is intended for specialized audiences rather than the general public.
+:::

guidelines/groups/text-and-wording/clear-language/non-literal-language.md

@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+---
+status: developing
+title: Non-literal language
+type: foundational
+---
+
+Explanations or unambiguous alternatives are available for :term[non-literal language], such as idioms and metaphors.

guidelines/groups/text-and-wording/clear-language/numerical-supplements.md

@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+---
+status: developing
+type: foundational
+---
+
+Alternatives are provided for numbers and numerical concepts.

guidelines/groups/text-and-wording/clear-language/review-process.md

@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+---
+status: developing
+type: assertion
+---
+
+- The organization has a documented process to review content for clear language before publication.
+- If the organization uses AI tools to generate or alter content, the organization has a documented process for a human to review and attest that the content is clear and conveys the intended meaning.

guidelines/groups/text-and-wording/clear-language/sentence-structure.md

@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+---
+status: developing
+type: foundational
+---
+
+Sentences are streamlined to avoid unnecessary words or phrases and complex structures such as clauses within clauses that can make it hard for users to focus on the main point.

guidelines/groups/text-and-wording/clear-language/short-blocks-of-text.md

@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+---
+status: developing
+type: foundational
+---
+
+Content is organized into short paragraphs or “chunks” to help users understand and remember the information.