[lg policy] South African Provincial Government Websites Fail to Meet Basic Plain Language Guidelines

[Harold Schiffman]

 South African Provincial Government Websites Fail to Meet Basic Plain
Language Guidelines

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, Aug. 9, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- VisibleThread, a
global leader in content quality management, reports communication on South
Africa 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 website
<http://info.visiblethread.com/south-africa-gov-provincial-website-clarity-index-2016>.


"Despite well-established consequences, poor writing on government websites
continues to be common," stated Fergal McGovern, CEO of VisibleThread. "*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*."
Continue Reading
<http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/south-african-provincial-government-websites-fail-to-meet-basic-plain-language-guidelines-300311062.html#continue-jump>
[image: Global leader in content quality management, reports communication
on South Africa government websites fails to meet basic plain writing
standards.] <https://photos.prnewswire.com/prnvar/20160809/396724?max=1600>

   -
   <http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/south-african-provincial-government-websites-fail-to-meet-basic-plain-language-guidelines-300311062.html#continue-jump>
   -
   -
   - <https://photos.prnewswire.com/prnvar/20160809/396724?max=1600>

Global leader in content quality management, reports communication on South
Africa government websites fails to meet basic plain writing standards.

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 South Africa's citizens.  South Africa does
not have a mandated plain language policy for government.

"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."

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.

*About VisibleThread*

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 *www.visiblethread.com <http://www.visiblethread.com/>*.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160809/396724



SOURCE VisibleThread
Related Links http://www.visiblethread.com

-- 

**************************************
N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its
members
and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or
sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who
disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write
directly to the original sender of any offensive message.  A copy of this
may be forwarded to this list as well.  (H. Schiffman, Moderator)

For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to
https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/
listinfo/lgpolicy-list
*******************************************
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/lgpolicy-list/attachments/20160810/99c54cc9/attachment.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
_______________________________________________
This message came to you by way of the lgpolicy-list mailing list
lgpolicy-list at groups.sas.upenn.edu
To manage your subscription unsubscribe, or arrange digest format: https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/listinfo/lgpolicy-list