Check for use of Plain English

When writing plain English it helps to consider the following points:

Be concise. Try and use an average of 15-20 words a sentence
Keep it simple. Use one idea to a sentence and include everyday words
Be personal. Use ‘you’ and ‘we’ (‘Applicants must send us…’ becomes ‘You must send us…’)
Give information in a logical order (list and organise what you want to say before starting to write) and use bullet points where appropriate
Use ‘active’ not ‘passive’ verbs, for example, ‘A report will be written by the management team’ (passive) becomes ‘The management team will be writing a report’ (active)

Similarly there are certain things to avoid when writing text:

Using BLOCK CAPITALS or italics for whole sentences
Underlining text (on a website underlined text generally means that it is a link)
Using abbreviations and acronyms (unless you have used them first in full)
Using jargon or Latin (for example, e.g. or etc)