Understandable texts are often seen as a nice extra - welcome when there is time, but expendable. Yet the language of a website decides who can use its content at all. The LEO 2018 study by the University of Hamburg counts 6.2 million (LEO 2018) adults with low literacy in Germany alone, that is 12.1% (LEO 2018) of 18- to 64-year-olds. A further 13.3 million (LEO 2018) adults still write with errors even for common vocabulary. For them and for many other readers, a nested bureaucratic sentence is a real barrier. Plain language lowers that barrier without diluting the content. This guide draws a clear line between plain language and easy language, shows the rules of the German standard and explains how to remove comprehension barriers without extra budget while gaining reach and meeting your BFSG requirements.
Key takeaways
- Plain language and easy language are not the same: easy language follows a strict rule set for people with cognitive impairments, while plain language sits between standard and easy language and addresses a broad audience.
- The target group is large: 6.2 million (LEO 2018) adults in Germany have low literacy, and a further 13.3 million (LEO 2018) write with errors even for common words.
- Comprehensibility helps everyone: users read only 20 to 28% (Nielsen Norman Group) of the words on a page on average - clear texts win over skilled readers too.
- Since 2024, DIN 8581-1 and DIN ISO 24495-1 provide the first binding rule set for plain language on the text, sentence, word and design level (DIN).
- Plain language is a building block of BFSG conformance: it strengthens the comprehensibility that WCAG criteria 3.1.3, 3.1.4 and 3.1.5 also target (W3C).
- The path runs through a text audit: check the most important pages, prioritize comprehension barriers and rewrite selectively - usually with no new content, only a clearer form.
Plain Language Is Not Easy Language
The most common mistake starts with the term itself. Plain language and easy language sound similar but mean two different things. Easy language is a heavily regulated concept: very short sentences, a clearly limited vocabulary, large type, often a mid-dot to split long words and usually a review of the texts by the target group. At its core it addresses people with cognitive impairments and people learning German. Plain language sits one level above: it allows a larger vocabulary and somewhat more complex sentences, yet stays far clearer than usual standard or technical language. Its audience is deliberately broad and explicitly not limited to people with cognitive impairments (DIN 8581-1).
In practice this means: easy language is the right choice when an offering is meant to reach people with learning difficulties specifically - for instance in public authorities, social services or central citizen information. For most corporate pages, online shops and service offerings, plain language is the fitting lever because it stays understandable without giving up the character of the brand. Offering both registers covers the full spectrum; our service for easy and plain language therefore combines both approaches.
A spectrum, not an either-or question
| Attribute | Easy language | Plain language |
|---|---|---|
| Target group | People with cognitive impairments | Broad audience, skilled and unskilled readers |
| Rule set | Strict, with review by those affected | Guidelines per DIN 8581-1, more flexible |
| Sentence length | Very short, one idea per sentence | Short to medium, clearly structured |
| Vocabulary | Strongly limited, technical terms explained | Larger, technical terms sparing and explained |
| Typical use | Authorities, citizen info, social services | Corporate pages, shops, services |
How Many People Benefit From Understandable Texts
The number of people who benefit from clear texts is larger than many assume. The LEO 2018 study puts adults with low literacy in Germany at 6.2 million (LEO 2018), or 12.1% (LEO 2018) of 18- to 64-year-olds. Compared with 2010, when 7.5 million (LEO 2018) were counted, that is a decline, but it remains a very large group. On top of this come 13.3 million (LEO 2018) adults whose written language is faulty even for common vocabulary. Understandable texts therefore reach not a small fringe group but a considerable share of the adult population.
Yet the benefit reaches far beyond these groups. Research by the Nielsen Norman Group shows that users actually read only 20 to 28% (Nielsen Norman Group) of the words on a web page on average; most skim the text and search deliberately for answers. People with low reading skills cannot skim - they read word by word and give up sooner when a sentence is too nested. For general audiences the Nielsen Norman Group recommends a reading level around sixth to eighth grade (Nielsen Norman Group). A clear text serves both: the hurried skimmer and the slow reader.
People with low literacy
6.2 million (LEO 2018) adults read and write below the level that complex web texts assume.
German as a second language
People learning German understand short, direct sentences far faster than technical and official language.
People in a hurry
On a smartphone, on the move or under time pressure, almost everyone skims - clear structure leads to the goal faster.
Screen reader users
Read-aloud text benefits from short sentences and clear structure; nested sentences are hard to grasp by ear.
Older people
Waning concentration and eyesight turn long, dense paragraphs into a hurdle - plain language relieves the load.
Readers outside their field
Experts outside their own field are also glad of understandable rather than jargon-heavy explanations.
Comprehensibility is not a niche
What Makes Plain Language Work on the Web
Since 2024, plain language no longer has to emerge from gut feeling. With DIN ISO 24495-1 and the German DIN 8581-1 built on it, there is for the first time a rule set describing plain language on four levels: text, sentence, word and design (DIN). The overarching standard formulates four principles - readers should find what they need, easily understand what they find, and be able to use the information (DIN ISO 24495-1). For web texts this yields a manageable list of concrete rules that can be applied without specialist knowledge.
- Short sentences with one idea - break up long nested sentences
- Active instead of passive phrasing and direct address of the reader
- Familiar, everyday words; technical terms only where needed and then explained
- The important part first: the core message at the start, not the end
- Meaningful subheadings that anticipate the content
- Bulleted lists instead of long running-text chains where a list fits
- Avoid abbreviations and foreign words or explain them on first use
- Sufficiently large type, clear paragraphs and ample white space for a calm layout
These rules do not conflict with a strong brand. A clear text can still carry attitude and tone - it merely drops the unnecessary hurdles. How typeface, font size and line length affect readability is explored in the article on accessible typography. And because comprehensibility depends day to day on the people who maintain content, consistent implementation also belongs in the training of the editorial team.
Comprehensibility, WCAG and the BFSG
How binding is plain language legally? The German Accessibility Act has applied since 28 June 2025 (Bundesfachstelle Barrierefreiheit) to large parts of digital consumer business and refers via the standard EN 301 549 to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. At conformance level AA, which serves as the benchmark, a particular reading level is not explicitly required - success criterion 3.1.5 Reading Level, which calls for a level below lower secondary education, sits at the stricter level AAA (W3C). Two further criteria, however, concern comprehensibility already at a lower level: 3.1.3 Unusual Words and 3.1.4 Abbreviations (W3C).
None of this is a licence to write complex. Comprehensibility is a load-bearing principle of accessibility, and plain language is the practical way to deliver it. It pays directly into several WCAG requirements and makes a page usable for people who would otherwise fail at the text. A WCAG audit therefore captures the linguistic level alongside technical barriers and places the findings within the applicable requirements. Understandable texts are thus not an isolated extra but a building block of conformance - much like clear structure and good contrast, whose double benefit is described in the article on accessibility and SEO.
Language belongs in the audit
Lowering Comprehension Barriers Without Extra Budget
Getting started with plain language does not require a large budget for new content. In most cases the content already exists - it is just packaged too complicatedly. The most effective lever is therefore not writing new texts but selectively rewriting the most important existing pages. A text audit reveals where the biggest comprehension barriers lie and prioritizes by impact: high-traffic pages, forms, explanations of prices and terms and the path to completion deserve the first attention.
- Identify the most important pages - where users must understand and act
- Capture comprehension barriers: long sentences, passive voice, jargon, nesting
- Prioritize by impact instead of touching the whole website at once
- Rewrite texts per DIN 8581-1: shorten, structure, address directly
- Proofread with real people, ideally from the target group
- Anchor comprehensibility in editorial guidelines so new content stays clear
This step-by-step approach spreads the effort and shows results early. Reworking even a few central pages lowers the number of people who drop out prematurely. A consistent handling of language, structure and components is also easier when building blocks are clearly named from the start - a connection taken up in the article on the accessible design system. Moving elements such as sliders and carousels also benefit from short, clear labels.
Reach and Conversion: Clear Texts Pay Off
The economic benefit of understandable texts is concrete. Reaching more people means losing fewer prospects on the way to completion. A form that everyone understands is filled in more often; a pricing page without jargon leads to fewer queries and drop-offs. The Nielsen Norman Group stresses that clear language benefits all reader groups - including highly educated users who do understand technical texts but also prefer to get to the point quickly (Nielsen Norman Group). Comprehensibility is thus not a compromise at the expense of demanding content but an increase in its effect.
On top of this comes discoverability. Clear headings, short paragraphs and unambiguous terms help not only people but also search engines classify a page's content. And for people who have content read aloud, sentence length decides comprehensibility by ear - a point deepened in the article on screen reader optimization. Understandable language thus works in several places at once: for the target group, for the technology and for the business.
Writing for the weakest reading skill excludes no one - it opens the page to everyone and loses nothing in substance.
Plain language is therefore neither a matter of taste nor a pure compliance topic. It lowers real barriers for millions of people, strengthens the comprehensibility that WCAG criteria also target, and makes offerings more effective. At the start stands not a large project but an honest look at the most important texts - and the question of whether everyone truly understands them. Where the answer is uncertain, a text audit is worthwhile that makes comprehension barriers visible and embeds the rewrite within the accessibility services.