Last updated: December, 2025. Download as PDF.
The Plain Writing Act of 2010 (Public Law 111-274) requires federal executive agencies to use plain writing in covered documents they issue or substantially revise. Signed on October 13, 2010, the law covers documents needed to obtain a federal benefit or service, documents that explain a benefit or service, and documents that explain how to comply with a federal requirement.
Why the Plain Writing Act Exists
Federal adult-skills data show a substantial literacy gap, but literacy proficiency should not be reduced to a single school-grade equivalent. The National Center for Education Statistics' U.S. PIAAC results report adult literacy across proficiency levels and show that many adults struggle with tasks involving dense or complex text. That evidence supports writing government information for the broadest practical audience.
The law followed President Clinton's 1998 Memorandum on Plain Language in Government Writing. The Act later placed plain-writing duties in statute.
What the Law Requires
Under Sections 4 and 5 of the Act, covered agencies must use plain writing in covered documents, designate senior officials for implementation, train employees, maintain a plain-writing section on their websites, provide a public feedback mechanism, and publish implementation and compliance reports.
Covered documents include any document that is necessary for obtaining a federal government benefit or service, provides information about a federal government benefit or service, or explains to the public how to comply with a requirement that the federal government administers or enforces. This encompasses paper and electronic formats, including web pages, PDFs, printed forms, mailed notices, and email communications.
What the Law Does Not Do
The Plain Writing Act contains a critical limitation. Section 6 states that the Act does not create a right or benefit enforceable in an administrative or judicial action. The statute instead relies on agency implementation, reporting, and public feedback.
Independent evaluations continue to distinguish procedural compliance from writing quality. The Center for Plain Language's Federal Report Card publishes its methodology, agency samples, and annual findings so readers can review the underlying evidence directly.
Who Must Comply
The Plain Writing Act applies to all federal executive branch agencies, which includes 15 cabinet-level departments (Defense, Treasury, Health and Human Services, etc.) and over 70 independent agencies (EPA, FCC, SEC, NASA, etc.). It does not apply to the legislative or judicial branches, though Congress has applied plain language principles to its own drafting in practice.
State requirements also address clear writing in specific settings, including consumer contracts and insurance policies. These laws vary by jurisdiction and should be checked in the current state code rather than treated as a single extension of the federal Act.
How Plain Language Is Defined
The Act defines plain writing as writing that is clear, concise, well-organized, and follows other best practices appropriate to the subject, field, and intended audience. The federal government's Federal Plain Language Guidelines provide practical guidance that goes beyond a readability score.
Primary sources
- Plain Writing Act of 2010, Public Law 111-274 (GovInfo)
- Federal Plain Language Guidelines
- OMB Final Guidance on Implementing the Plain Writing Act
- NCES Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies
The guidelines assess audience appropriateness (is the document written for its intended reader?), logical organization (does the structure follow the reader's needs?), use of active voice, sentence and paragraph length, jargon avoidance, use of common everyday words, clear headings and subheadings, use of lists and tables where appropriate, and overall actionability (can the reader understand what to do after reading?).
This multi-dimensional framework is more sophisticated than readability formulas like Flesch-Kincaid, which measure only sentence length and syllable count. Plain language experts, including those at the Center for Plain Language, have consistently argued that readability scores alone are insufficient proxies for document clarity and can even undermine proven techniques for improving comprehension.
The Current State of Compliance
Despite the law being in effect for over 15 years, systematic compliance remains elusive. No productized vendor solution exists to help agencies audit their full document corpus against the Federal Plain Language Guidelines, track remediation progress, or auto-generate the annual compliance reports the law requires. Agencies have relied on internal training programs, ad hoc document reviews, and individual-use writing tools like Hemingway App or Readable.io — none of which provide institutional-grade compliance infrastructure.
The technology landscape shifted significantly starting in 2023 with the emergence of large language models capable of evaluating documents for plain language quality at scale. AI-powered auditing can now assess jargon density, logical flow, audience fit, and information design across thousands of documents — capabilities that were previously available only through expensive human review. This technological shift has made it feasible, for the first time, to build a productized compliance service that treats plain language the way WCAG scanning treats web accessibility: as a purchasable, measurable, continuously monitored compliance obligation.
gpt.us.org is the first dedicated plain language compliance auditing platform for U.S. government agencies. Request a free audit →