Do you find yourself asking how accessible is my document? Or seek simple, quick, and effective guidance on creating Easy Read materials? This Free tool can help.

I’m a Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist with a passion for Inclusive Communication. This means breaking down communication barriers to support all members of society to be equal. Easy Read is just one way we might make information more accessible. Easy read means considering using simple language, clear layout, and visual aids to enhance understanding.

This unique rating scale was developed to help prevent health inequality for people with a Learning Disability. The scale is designed to improve current NHS patient information leaflets and their accessibility. The scale is based on the NHS Accessibility Information Standards, providing a practical framework to making an Easy Read document. Not limited to healthcare, this scale is versatile and applicable to any company or organisation producing public information.

What makes this scale special? It’s simple, speedy, and facilitates a quick assessment of your document’s accessibility against specific rules. The accompanying descriptors offer valuable insights, guiding you toward areas for improvement.

Everyone is individual and there is no one size that fits all. However, the scale can be used as a starting point when considering Easy Read formats. It’s important that this scale is used alongside feedback from the population you want to target, to co-produce a document that really meets their needs.

Let’s strive to ensure that our written documents are more accessible to everyone who needs to access them.

Access this free Rating Scale below along with PDF and Word versions of this document, which contain the User Guide.

Accessible Information Rating Scale- for written information

How accessible is your leaflet or document?

		Explanation and advice on adaptations to making an Easy Read Format	Score (0 or 1)
Words and Pictures
Rule 1	Is each idea presented by both words and pictures?	A visual can be supportive for those people who find words harder to read. However, all pictures must be accompanied by a description so they can’t be misinterpreted.
Rule 2	Is it clear which pictures go with which parts of the text?	The words and the pictures complement each other and clearly highlight a specific point or piece of information.
Pictures
Rule 3	Are all pictures easy to understand?	If you look at the pictures in isolation, can you roughly guess what the text will be about or what the general theme is?
Rule 4	Are all pictures on the left?	This supports our left to right natural reading flow.
Rule 5	Are the pictures, drawings, photographs, or other images clear?	Pictures/symbols need to be good quality, with a clear background. Being consistent is also important e.g. choosing a specific symbol set or all images to be photos. Are the images still clear even when printed in black and white.
Rule 6	Are pictures big enough to see fully to a person without visual impairment?	This will help to make any text look less intimidating and more user friendly to families and younger people. Recommendations are to give the picture at least 8cm of space.
Rule 7	Are the images appropriate to the target audience they are intended for?	For example: If ‘young people’ and their families are going to be reading the leaflet then the images need to be captivating, bright, in colour and age appropriate. Photos would need to be of young people rather than adults.
Words
Rule 8	If jargon words are used are they explained fully?	Jargon words must be used only if completely necessary. All jargon words need to be explained in full and understood by a non-specialist in that area. The explanation should come directly following the word. If lots of unfamiliar words are used, then consider a glossary.
Rule 9	Does the text contain ‘common’ words rather than ‘hard words’?	Hard words/low frequency words are words that people don’t often use in their everyday talking. These words must be changed to more ‘common’ words. So, it has the highest reach as possible. E.g. ‘participation’ can be changed to ‘taking part’
Rule 10	Are all sentences ‘active’ and not ‘passive’?	For example, ‘we are following up your complaint’ (active tense) not ‘your complaint is being followed up’ (passive tense).
Rule 11	Are all words on the right-hand side of the page?	To support natural reading flow. Easy read documents have pictures on the left and text on the right-hand side. Although avoid ‘justifying’ text, using left alignment makes it easier to read.
Rule 12	Does the text have a toned background?	Having a pastel toned background on the text panel will help it be easier to read and reduce glare (what colour to use is always down to individual needs), a colour that is pale and consistent throughout the document is better than not having one at all.
Rule 13	Are all words written clearly in a font that is easily readable e.g. Century Gothic?	It should be an easy font to read with monospacing, no serifs or complicated letter shapes. Avoid using capital letter-only fonts if possible. Italic and underlining should also be avoided.
Rule 14	Is the font at least size 12?	It is preferable for font to be size 14. Considerations for a ‘larger text’ version will be needed if you are using this for leaflets to support visual impairment.
Rule 15	Are full words not acronyms used unless considered a very commonly understood exception such as ‘NHS’?	There are very few acronyms that are understood by the wider population.
Length
Rule 16	Does each sentence consist of less than 15 words?	Longer sentences are likely to be more grammatically complex and therefore difficult to understand.
Rule 17	Is each document shorter than 20 pages in length?	Consider your target audience when you are looking at the length of the document. Taking into consideration a person’s likely attention span.
Formatting and style
Rule 18	If the information is part of a set, does it follow the same ‘style’	Does the overall feel of the resource/leaflet look and feel like it’s consistent with other resources if it is part of a set.
Rule 19	Is there spacing used between points and even between lines?	Spacing of 1.5 (instead of single lined spacing) can avoid a text feeling cluttered. Having plenty of ‘white space’ between points and paragraphs can help the reader.
Rule 20	Does the document use page numbers?	This limits the potential for missing information if a document is misprinted.

Score Total	Description
16 – 20	Likely to be classed as Easy Read.
10 – 15	Attempts have been made to make this Easy Read but more can be done. Consider further alterations to the document.
0 – 9	This does not meet the criteria for Easy Read and needs considerable adaptations using the suggestions on the rating scale.

The information has been compiled from the following:

How-to-make-info-accessible-guide-2016-Final (changepeople.org)

G030-UKAAF-Easy-Read.pdf

nhse-access-info-comms-policy.pdf (england.nhs.uk)

User guide for the Accessible Information Rating Scale

Do I need to make my document or leaflet accessible?

The following scoring system is taken from: nhse-access-info-comms-policy.pdf (england.nhs.uk) and can be used as a tool to support decision making to work out if an ‘easy read’/accessible version is needed for your document or leaflet.

Target Audience	Count	Content	Count
Public	3	Relevant to individuals (take action/be aware)	4
General professionals	2	No action required of individuals/not directly relevant but may be of interest	3
Specialist professionals and/or staff	1	Not relevant to individuals/no action required and unlikely to be of interest	2

Target audience + content = total score.

· A score of more than 6 indicates that a version of the document in one or more alternative formats should be proactively published alongside the standard document.

· A score of 6 indicates that consideration should be given to proactive publication in one or more alternative formats, or it may be appropriate to have the document available in alternative formats on request, depending on the content and audience.

· A score of 5 indicates that it may not be appropriate or cost effective to publish the document proactively in alternative formats, but she should be prepared for requests.

· A score of 4 or less indicates that the document is unlikely to be suitable for publication in alternative formats.

It maybe worth considering that if ‘accessible information’ is built into publications as standard that they will positively have the greatest reach to the highest number of people as well as encompassing those with a Learning disability or additional need.

How do I know if my leaflet/document is ‘Easy read’?

– The Accessible Information Rating Scale can be used as one tool to work out how accessible (‘Easy read’) a leaflet or document is.

– Use the Rating scale on pages 1 and 2. Score 1 for ‘yes’ to the question and 0 for ‘no’. Then count the total score and use the table below to work out if your leaflet/document is Red, Amber or Green.

Score Total	Description
16 – 20	Likely to be classed as Easy read.
10 – 15	Attempts have been made to make this Easy Read but more can be done. Consider further alterations to the document.
0 – 9	This does not meet the criteria for Easy Read and needs considerable adaptations using the suggestions on the rating scale.

Important information: It is not enough to use the rating scale alone. Learning disabilities is the primary target audience for ‘Easy read’, therefore consultation with this group on how ‘accessible’ they feel the information is extremely important. All targeted patient engagement will support the testing process of how accessible the information published is. For example, if young people and children are also a target audience then involving them in the co-production of resources/information is essential.

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