This blog shares some of our thoughts about plain language, and the latest discussions about plain English and clear design in New Zealand, and around the world.

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08 September 2014

What’s going on in New Zealand to improve literacy?

UNESCO[i] declared 8 September International Literacy Day in 1966. The purpose of celebrating this day each year is to remind the international community that literacy for all makes a healthy society — socially, politically, mentally, and physically healthy, that is.

Almost 50 years after the first Literacy Day, many countries still struggle with basic education and literacy. Our friend Sandra Fisher-Martins[ii] tells a story about how written information affects the lives of people who can’t read. Listen to Sandra’s story about her neighbour Mr Domingos in her TED talk. 

And in New Zealand and Australia, many people in our own adult communities find daily information difficult to take in and use.

Find out what’s being done to improve adult literacy by subscribing to the valuable newsletters at Workbase New Zealand. As a not-for-profit trust, they support organisations and people to build literacy, language, numeracy, and communication skills for a modern economy and society.

Workbase brings literacy to people at their workplace. They know that people’s general health, their safety at work and their economic status is closely linked to their literacy. You can read Susan Reid’s informative blog about health literacy, and subscribe to Workbase’s monthly health literacy newsletter.

At Write Limited we help writers in organisations small and large apply plain language techniques to their information. Writers may have a higher level of literacy than the thousands of readers they write for. Our plain language solutions help writers make health information, financial information, legal information, any information easier to read, take in and use. Our newsletters will show you how.




[i] UNESCO is the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization

[ii] Sandra Fisher-Martins established Claro in Portugal

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