A few examples come to mind in support of this attempt. Readers' Digest targeted sixth-grade reading level for its entire history. They are famous for explaining law, foreign affairs, human biology, anatomy and physiology using simple language and illustrations. "This is Joe's liver" Wikipedia has a "language" of "Simple English". This is a very restricted vocabulary (850 words) and writers are translating everything from engineering and Einstein's relativity to social sciences into Simple English. It really works, stripping away jargon, hundred-dollar-words where a five-penny word will do, losing all pretension. Intensely valuable for people for whom English is a second language, with some kinds of cognitive challenges, or for whom vocabulary is a barrier. http://simple.wikipedia.org/ http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_relativity Apps that score text for readability often check word length (in syllables), sentence length, paragraph length, structure simplicity/complexity, and grammar rules that prevent semantic confusion. So overall length of a contract or advisory should help, but there are many other factors that contribute to readability and access by someone who doesn't read much or read well. I don't know if it's still true, but I was told when I first study technical writing that the average person is most comfortable reading three or four years below their highest academic grade level. Where inclusion is a goal, and I'd think it would be in the case of readable contracts, shooting for 6th grade seems both important and attainable. On Feb 10, 2013, at 9:57 AM, Mary Hodder <
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