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<h1>South African Provincial Government Websites Fail to Meet Basic Plain Language Guidelines
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<p itemprop="articleBody"><span class="" itemprop="contentLocation" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Place"><span itemprop="geo" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/address"><span itemprop="addressLocality">CAPE TOWN, South Africa</span></span></span>, <span class="">Aug. 9, 2016</span> /PRNewswire/ -- VisibleThread, a global leader in content quality management, reports communication on <span class="" itemprop="contentLocation" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Place"><span itemprop="geo" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/address"><span itemprop="addressLocality">South Africa</span></span></span>
government websites fails to meet basic plain writing standards. The
company's Website Clarity Index analysis focused on 30-plus Provincial
Government websites from Gauteng, Kwazulu Natal and the Western Cape.
You can download the full report from VisibleThread's <a class="" href="http://info.visiblethread.com/south-africa-gov-provincial-website-clarity-index-2016" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">website</a>. </p>
<p itemprop="articleBody">"Despite well-established consequences, poor writing on government websites continues to be common," stated <span class="" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person"><span itemprop="name">Fergal McGovern</span></span>, CEO of VisibleThread. "<i>In
a country where the language of government is a second language for
many of its citizens, poor communication will result in inefficiency and
affect service delivery</i>." </p>
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Global leader in content quality management, reports
communication on South Africa government websites fails to meet basic
plain writing standards.
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<p id="continue-jump" itemprop="articleBody">Governments that adopt
plain language practices when crafting communication for citizens
benefit from increased compliance, higher revenues and other positive
outcomes. VisibleThread's analysis found that only 13 percent of
Provincial Government websites meet recommended readability standards.
Writing on most sites is at or above a college reading level – above the
capabilities of a majority of <span class="" itemprop="contentLocation" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Place"><span itemprop="geo" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/address"><span itemprop="addressLocality">South Africa's</span></span></span> citizens. <span class="" itemprop="contentLocation" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Place"><span itemprop="geo" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/address"><span itemprop="addressLocality">South Africa</span></span></span> does not have a mandated plain language policy for government.</p>
<p itemprop="articleBody">"Improving written
communication is a relatively inexpensive undertaking for governments,"
added McGovern. "Yet, despite a quick return-on-investment and other
positive long term benefits, many administrations overlook the
opportunity." </p>
<p itemprop="articleBody">VisibleThread's index ranks
the clarity of provincial website writing on four distinct measures.
Specific departments performed better than others in the analysis. The
company produces its Website Clarity Index reports through data
extracted from its Clarity Grader language analysis software. Clarity
Grader helps organizations extract deep insights from written content
that appears online.</p>
<p itemprop="articleBody"><b>About VisibleThread</b></p>
<p itemprop="articleBody">VisibleThread helps
executives in large organizations govern content quality with less cost
and risk. Sales and marketing teams in diverse industries use our
technology to improve many functions, including proposal development,
contract review and brand audits. Our software finds brand compliance,
poor readability and other issues in websites and documents. Unlike
consumer-grade analysis tools, VisibleThread processes hundreds of
documents and web pages in minutes. Fuelled with greater organizational
intelligence, customers drive efficiency and reduce cost across their
organizations. For more information, visit <u><a class="" href="http://www.visiblethread.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.visiblethread.com</a></u>. </p>
<p itemprop="articleBody">Photo - <a class="" href="http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160809/396724" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160809/396724</a> </p>
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<p itemprop="articleBody">SOURCE VisibleThread</p>
<h4>Related Links</h4>
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