Re: Grade-level writing - tool suggestions?
A "Provider Manual" for one of our ventilator units is written for a medically-trained audience. Not super-technical, but certainly high-school to college level. We need to rework the manual and reduce it to a 7th grade reading level for use by homecare patients and their families.
[snip]
Has anyone else gone through this process recently? Any ideas on the fastest, least painful way to accomplish the job?
I have an unfair advantage in dealing with this sort of thing. My husband is the science guy at a small urban alternative high school where many of the incoming students are reading at the 5th-7th grade level. He has a real gift for explaining complex technical concepts to people with absolutely no backround in the subject without being condescending. When I need to translate something from sciencespeak into simpler language for a lay audience, I give it to him and ask him how he'd explain it to his classes. Works every time.
We could even throw a few bucks at it, if the right software presented itself.
I've considered renting Andy out. There is certainly a market for his talent. Unfortunately, he doesn't have much time for extra tasks during the school year.
Seriously, find someone who successfully teaches middle-school or high-school science, or works with a technology-oriented youth organization, to read through your stuff, identify problem areas, and suggest rephrasings for procedures and troublesome concepts. That's a faster and much more reliable way to accomplish the task than any of the grade-level analysis tools I've seen over the years. There may be someone outside your documentation department, in another part of your company or even an employee's spouse or friend. As a freelancer, it's generally easier for me to get short-term outside help than it would be for a corporate employee, but it should still be doable (is that a word? looks odd and there's no dictionary handy).
Grammar tools depend on arbitrary rules, and none of them really do a decent job. Successful teachers may not be able to articulate a specific set of language analysis rules, but they can instinctively 'hear' the type of language and style that will be both understandable and engaging to someone with a 7th-grade reading level.
--
K@
Kat Nagel, MasterWork Consulting
http://www.masterworkconsulting.com
585.820.4045
katnagel -at- masterworkconsulting -dot- com
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Grade-level writing - tool suggestions?: From: Hughes, Linda
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