About us » How we test our own standards
How we test our own standards
- Our customers ask their customers what they think of the letters, leaflets, handbooks and other documents we’ve edited. They like what we do.
- People who take part in our writing-skills courses rate them highly — as enjoyable and helpful, with fresh, interesting material.
- Occasionally we use mathematical or computerized readability tests as a general guide to the reading-age level of texts we’ve edited. We don’t use them routinely because we think they’re too rigid, too time-consuming and not reliable enough.
- We always ask ‘Who will be reading this document?’ and adapt the style to the readers. This can mean putting an idea more simply, or finding more familiar words, or explaining technical terms. Equally, it can mean using more unusual words if they are the right ones for the job and if the readers will know them.
- Just as important, we make sure text is well structured, with ideas logically set out and clearly signposted.
- But we keep what’s good in your text, and only suggest amendments that will improve it further. As your plain-English partner, our aim is to help you clarify.
