Common questions

A way of writing for people with intellectual disability, and for anyone who finds long documents hard. It uses short sentences, everyday words and a picture beside each idea, with hard words explained in a word list.

Not quite. Plain English makes writing clearer for everyone. Easy Read goes further: one idea per line, a picture for every point and much simpler words, so people with low literacy or intellectual disability can follow it.

The rules don't name Easy Read. They ask that residents get key information in the way they're most likely to understand, and for many residents that means Easy Read. The exact wording is on our Why now page.

No. Your original stays the official document. The Easy Read version explains it, and says so inside.

Every document is written for your organisation, from your own original. We use software tools to help draft the plain language and lay out the pages. A person then checks every page against your original before it reaches you, and you check it again before you use it.

Most documents are back with you within 3 business days of you saying go. Longer handbooks can take a little more, and we'll tell you the date up front.

Just the document, as a Word file or PDF, and your logo if it isn't on your website. Please send a blank template rather than a signed copy, so no participant's personal details come through.

Yes. We use your colours and logo throughout, so it sits naturally alongside your other documents.

Yes. Send photos of your homes or team, with everyone's permission, and we'll use them in place of the pictures. No extra charge.

Two rounds of changes are included in every price. Changes your residents suggest, and fixes to anything we got wrong, are always free. After that, updates to a document we made for you, like a new phone number, are $90.

Not by us. We follow established Easy Read conventions, but the best test is the people you support, so we suggest sharing the draft with a few residents. If they suggest changes, we'll make them free of charge.

No. We make your existing documents easier to understand. We don't check whether your policies meet the Practice Standards or any law, and we can't promise an audit result.

By the length of your original document: up to 800 words is $290, up to 2,500 words $490, and up to 6,000 words $890, plus $150 for each extra 1,000 words after that. The SIL Essentials Pack of five documents is $1,490. We always confirm the price before we start. See Pricing.

Yes. Your first short document, up to 800 words, is free, and it's yours to keep either way. See Free sample.

Once you've approved the document. We send an invoice and payment is due within 7 days, by bank transfer.

No. Our prices include everything and no GST is charged.

You do. Once it's paid for, it's yours to use, print, change and share however you like. A free sample is yours in the same way, whether or not you order anything.

We only use them to make your Easy Read version. We never share them with other customers or businesses, and never use them to promote our business without your permission. They do pass through the software tools we use to make your document, as our Privacy page explains.

We won't copy it into the Easy Read version, and we delete the original when the job is finished. Sending a blank template means it never comes through at all.