Last week, Kielikello magazine reported on a language survey targeted at Finnish municipalities. According to the respondents, the most significant factors complicating the work of government writers are the lack of time (78% of respondents), standard practices (69%) and lack of skill ( 54%). 58% of respondents believe that the quality of documents will improve if they are targeted to citizens, but only 12% of the respondents rely on user feedback. I suspect that the results mainly reflect the prevailing modus operandi: feedback is not currently used as part of the usability evaluation of texts. User feedback, however, is a great development tool, one that Kela, the Social Insurance Institution of Finland,is applying as it works to improve its forms.
Another article in the same magazine upheld The Action Plan for Plain Language. “For those who are eager to reform official language through social media and on the Internet, the action plan may be a disappointment.”Kielikello contends that while social media can be used, “we also need expert knowledge.” Unfortunately, this view reflects a superficial understanding of online communication. The whole idea is that an expert can create understandable, everyday language on difficult issues through interaction with citizens. Blogs and discussion forums are good tools for that.
Standard practice is sometimes a barrier blocking a better route.