Search

Most research informed consent forms are written at a high school reading level when many people who are being recruited for studies might need language nearer to a fifth-grade level, according to a new study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article talks about the revised Common Rule regarding the consent forms in healthcare industry for formidable undertaking. It states that consent forms have 11th grade or higher reading level. Tips for scripting an easy consent form are included, such as using direct sentences with limited length, short paragraphs, and highlighting important points. Comments from Christine Grady, chief of bioethics at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Center, are presented.

The article discusses the impact of web accessibility standards for libraries and short meetings. It mentions states that accessible website requires awareness of the issues, thoughtful design and appropriate techniques and methods. It states the use of assessment tools, techniques and methods in improving website. It also emphasizes the compliance with web standards when licensing or purchasing new software for website content and delivery.

The article discusses the development of reading instructions in the United States. Changes began in the 1920's when the attractiveness of books and materials, accuracy of grading for readability, the publication of reading and aptitude tests, and experimentation with various reading aids and mechanical equipment designed for the improvement of reading ability have been developed. The U.S. Office of Education have sponsored reading studies that intend to discover the effectivity of the reading methods and materials.

This article presents a comparison of the reading skills of the American and Russian students. Ever since the Soviet Union jolted the U.S. with its first space spectacular, American educators have been taking a closer took at the Soviet education system. More and more one is coming to recognize that what Russian students learn in school and what American students learn in school may do much to determine whether the free world will check and defeat Communism, or whether Communism will check and defeat the free world. One major discrepancy is in the size of the vocabulary in American and Russian readers in the early grades.

A small study about improving readability of informed consent examines how investigators and IRBs can make research understandable to people with very limited reading skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the 137,935 dollars received by University of Virginia English Professor Eric D. Hirsch from the National Endowment for the Humanities to make a standard for evaluating the relative readability of writing in the U.S. in 1978. Over the next year, Hirsch will hire eleven graduate students who will rewrite several student papers to understand them easier. The rewrites and original papers will be provided to separate groups of readers who will be timed on how quick they read the two versions.

The article focuses on the Art of Readable Writing devised by Language expert Rudolf Flesch to use plain language to business, banks and insurance companies in the U.S. First National City Bank of New York has implemented its standard loan contract that was written in language that can easily be understand by loan applicants making clear the bank's and borrower's obligations. In addition, Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. and Sentry Life Insurance Co. offer a plain-talk automobile policy.

The article suggests that workers in the United States rarely read contract booklets and focuses on a campaign by labor unions to reverse this trend as of August 1950. Methods to make union contracts more readable are presented, including changes in their size, colored illustrations, and legibility of the typeface. A trend to include additional information in such booklets is also referenced.

The article offers information on an April 2012 webinar about the language arts portion of the U.S. state education standards guidelines Common Core State Standards. Academic planner Karen Burke said that the guidelines require that students read and analyze complex texts during the Understanding Text Complexity webinar by the education company Scholastic Inc.'s initiative Scholastic Achievement Partners.

The article reports on the draft of standardized forms of health insurance plan from the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama. The draft reportedly achieved commendation from supporters of the federal healthcare reform. The proposed regulations issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the labor and treasury departments would require a template of information on each type of insurance plan.

Examines the readability of instructions accompanying 25 brands of condoms sold in the U.S. Application of three standard readability formulas to 14 different sets of instructions; Analysis of linguistic characters of the text; Relationship between the condom user's comprehension of instructions for use and the condom's effectiveness in preventing pregnancy.