NYC Language Access
The Challenge
Language accessibility is communication written and designed for a diverse population of readers. It is important for the government, in particular, to communicate in accessible ways.
Inaccessibility is a systemic issue that impacts everyone but to different degrees, with a particularly heavy burden on disadvantaged communities.
At a yearly forum attended by NYC government employees, we asked “How Might We brainstorm new interventions to support the language access issue?”
The Intervention
1. In May 2023, we held the three-hour Civic Design Forum event where we up-skilled 50+ City agency staff in plain language writing techniques. This forum was planned and facilitated in partnership with the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs and the Mayor’s Office of Technology and Innovation.
2. We held three additional “Communities of Practice” workshops for those interested in continuing plain language writing practices with Forum peers.
3. We designed a quarterly plain language newsletter that includes relevant news, exercises to practice techniques, and comics!