• Ciara Lawrence of Mencap speaks on BBC News
    Says the government’s COVID-19 guidelines contain too much jargon
    Raises important points about information accessibility

Ciara Lawrence works for Mencap. Mencap is the leading voice of learning disability. Speaking to Victoria Derbyshire, she advocated clear messaging. The jargon used in UK government messaging was the main topic.

The overall advice has been contradictory and confusing. Not being clear in their language has made this worse. Ciara recommends making advice available in Easyread. Lack of clarity makes living with a disability harder.

Ciara asserted:

"The Government need to [...] make reasonable adjustments because we're all different."

This comes during a time when benefit sanctions are returning. There are concerns that this will put pressure on the disabled to work. Even if they're shielding. 

Back in March, we scored several COVID-19 news sources. The best healthcare advice had the best readability. It helps to involve the public in their own healthcare and protect themselves. 

Ciara usually relies on help to understand information. This has been difficult to access with social distancing. Presenting government advice clearly would help greatly. Clear language helps people to follow rules and reduce personal risk.  

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Readability news     accessibility     current affairs     government     laura kelly

Laura Kelly

Laura is a freelance writer and worked at Readable for a number of years. Laura is well-versed in optimising content for readability and Readable's suite of tools. She aims to write guides that help you make the most out of Readable.