| name | plain-language |
| description | Rewrites government and civic content into plain language — and translates it into Spanish or other languages on request. Paste in a notice, form, UI copy, email, or any government-facing text and ask to "plain language this" or "simplify this." The skill rewrites to federal plain language standards, shows you every change it made in an annotated version with a recommendation table (what changed, why, and what guideline it came from), and returns a clean rewrite alongside the original for comparison. If you're working on bilingual content, it applies your program glossary, enforces the formal Spanish usted register, and flags inclusive language decisions for reviewer sign-off. Optionally runs a WCAG 2.2 content-level accessibility check or a UX writing check on the same pass. Activates when you paste content and say things like "plain language this," "simplify this for the public," "translate this for our users," or "make this easier to read."
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| version | 1.0 |
| author | brendaruelasvelasquez@navapbc.com |
| author_name | Brenda R Velasquez |
| team | Practice - Design |
| sensitive_data | false |
| problem | Writing plain language content for government programs is slow and inconsistent — especially when bilingual output is required. Without a shared tool, each team member manually applies federal plain language rules from memory, looks up approved Spanish translations one term at a time, and catches register or inclusive language issues through ad hoc review. On NJ UI Modernization alone, plain language drafting and bilingual review for a single notice or UI content update can take 1–2 hours, and errors still slip through (wrong register, inconsistent glossary terms, gendered defaults in Spanish). This skill replaces that manual process with a single structured pass that rewrites, annotates every decision with a source, enforces the program glossary, and flags accessibility and UX writing issues — cutting drafting and first-pass review time significantly and giving translators and content reviewers a cleaner, more consistent handoff. |
| estimated_impact | Saves 1-2 hours per content pieces by replacing manual plain language drafting, glossary lookup, Spanish register review, and first-pass accessibility and UX writing checks with a single structured output. |
| usage_frequency | A few times per week |
| expected_audience | 6-15 people |
| impact_type | ["Time saved per use","Faster turnaround / cycle time","Cost avoidance (fewer tools","vendor hours","etc.)"] |
| compatibility | ["claude-chat","claude-cowork"] |
| tags | ["plain-language","content-strategy","translation"] |
| data_sources | Federal Plain Language Guidelines (plainlanguage.gov), USDR Benefits Resource Hub — Spanish Translation Guide for Benefits Programs (usdr.gitbook.io/benefits-resource-hub), and WCAG 2.2 (w3.org/TR/WCAG22). Optionally reads from Google Drive when a user shares a Doc or Drive link. |
