According to Cathy Basterfield, there is a difference between Easy English and Easy Read. She says one is led by evidence with people who rarely read (Easy English), the other is led by lived experience (Easy Read).
Easy English:
- Is grounded in universal design principles
- Applies the ISO Plain Language Standard
- Applies academic evidence
- Consults diverse people with low literacy
The two examples above of how to make a complaint clearly show the differences. The Easy English example has a clear title with an illustrative graphic. The Easy Read example uses marketing images and branding. This corporate presentation requires knowledge of what the images and brand mean.
The intended audience of Easy Read is people with intellectual disability. They don’t learn differently, they just learn in smaller steps. They need to learn the skills in the place they will use them and will need more repetition.
Speech pathologist Basterfield stresses the lack of regard for Easy English with an emphasis on lived experience advisory panels for Easy Read. She asks why people who experience real difficulty reading remain unheard in written communication. Of course, if they can’t read the invitation, how can they find out about such events?
Easy Read is good for some people, but not all the 44% of people with low literacy.
The title of the blog article is, Empowerment through communication. It has a link to more information on the differences between Easy English and Easy Read.