A piece of communication can be correct and still be difficult to understand. This often happens with administrative letters, contracts, instructions and other everyday documents.
Cognitive accessibility aims to help people understand information and act with greater independence. There are several tools for improving how well texts are understood, including simple language, plain language and Easy Read. Although they are related, they are not the same thing.
What is the difference between them?
Simple language
This makes a text easier to understand through techniques such as using everyday words, writing direct sentences, avoiding acronyms (or explaining them) and leaving out needlessly complex expressions. Images and other visual aids can also help.
Royal Decree 707/2026 covers this approach, although it does not set out a specific technical standard for how to apply it or how to evaluate the results.
Plain language
This is not limited to simplifying words. It also considers how the information is organised and presented, what the reader needs to find, and what they need to be able to do with it.
The international standard ISO 24495-1, published in 2023, sets out four principles: people should get the information they need, find it, understand it and be able to use it. Writing clearly therefore means working on content, structure and usability alike.
Easy Read
This is a methodology for adapting texts, aimed especially at people who have difficulty understanding written information. It can benefit, among others, people with intellectual disabilities, learning difficulties or limited command of the language.
The adaptation can affect the content, vocabulary, structure and design of the document. The methodology also requires people with reading comprehension difficulties to take part, to check whether the text can be understood. In Spain, the reference standard is UNE 153101.
Three complementary approaches
The differences do not lie solely in sentence length or the words used. Simple language simplifies the text, plain language organises the information so that it is useful and understandable, and Easy Read adapts the text following a specific methodology and checks comprehension with the people it is intended for.
| Simple language | Plain language | Easy Read | |
| What it does | Direct sentences, everyday words, and acronyms omitted or explained | Reorganises the text so that it can be found, understood and used | Reworks content, language and design, and tests it with readers |
| Who it is for | General public | General public | People with reading comprehension difficulties |
| Standard | None of its own | ISO 24495-1 | UNE 153101 |
| How it is checked | Not set method | With readers; advisable | With readers; part of the method |
One sentence, three versions
The same administrative notice adapted using simple language, plain language and Easy Read.
| Version | Text |
| Original | In accordance with the administrative procedure regulations, you are required, within the non-extendable period of ten working days from the day following receipt of this notification, to rectify the omission of the mandatory documentation identified in your application for assistance, with the warning that, if you fail to do so, you will be deemed to have withdrawn your request. |
| Simple language | We have reviewed your application for assistance and a document is missing: [document name]. You have 10 working days to send it. Working days do not include Saturdays, Sundays or public holidays, and are counted from the day after you receive this communication. If you do not send it, we will treat your application as withdrawn. |
| Plain language | A document is missing from your application for assistance. Send [document name] within 10 working days, not counting Saturdays, Sundays or public holidays, from the day after you receive this communication. You can send it to [channel and address]. If you do not send it, we will treat your application as withdrawn. |
| Easy Read | We have reviewed your application for assistance. A document is missing. The missing document is [document name]. You must send it within 10 days. Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays do not count. The 10 days start on the day after you receive this letter. If you do not send the document, we will treat your application as withdrawn. |
Simple language. The original sentence, at 59 words, is split into four sentences of between 8 and 21 words. Legal terms such as “rectify”, “mandatory” and “deemed to have withdrawn” are replaced with more everyday expressions, and working days are explained.
Plain language. As well as simplifying the wording, the information is reorganised so that it says first what is missing and what the person must do. It also explains how to send the documentation, a detail that was not in the original.
Easy Read. The information is presented with one idea per line and direct language. To complete the adaptation, specific layout criteria would need to be applied, such as a sans serif typeface and generous line spacing, and the result would need to be validated with people who have reading comprehension difficulties.
From legal language to everyday language
Some expressions commonly found in administrative documents can make them harder to understand. Replacing them with more direct alternatives helps people understand what the text means and what they have to do.
| In the original | A clearer alternative |
| rectify | send what is missing |
| mandatory | required |
| non-extendable | cannot be extended |
| deemed to have withdrawn | treated as having withdrawn the application |
How to choose the right approach
Three questions can help you decide what kind of adaptation a text needs.
Who will be reading it?
For communications aimed at the general public, simple language and plain language help make the text easier to understand. If the text is aimed at people with reading comprehension difficulties, it may be necessary to apply the Easy Read methodology.
What are the consequences of the information?
When deadlines, money, rights or health matters are at stake, it is especially important that the message is clearly understood. In these cases, it is advisable to apply at least the principles of plain language, which, as well as simplifying words, organises information so that people can find what they need, understand it and know how to act.
Can it be checked with readers?
Easy Read requires the text to be validated with the people it is intended for, following its methodology. For plain language, it is recommended to evaluate texts with readers to identify possible comprehension difficulties and improve the result. Simple language, for its part, has no specific validation method associated with it.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Spain. ‘Real Decreto 707/2026, de 2 de septiembre, por el que se aprueba el Reglamento de las condiciones básicas de accesibilidad cognitiva’. Boletín Oficial del Estado, no. 218, 3 September 2026, BOE-A-2026-18509.
International Organization for Standardization. ‘ISO 24495-1:2023. Plain language. Part 1: Governing principles and guidelines’. ISO, 2023.
AENOR. ‘UNE 153101:2018 EX. Lectura fácil. Pautas y recomendaciones para la elaboración de documentos’. AENOR, 2018.