The first EasyRead+ document that IC Works produced with Camden People First was a research participant paper for Sheffield University.
The information sheet targeted people with 22q Deletion, a syndrome that's fairly common amongst learning disabled people that can lead to a movement disorder. The research was attempting to find out why this happens and if it could be prevented
The EasyRead+ workshop highlighted several phrases that members of the group did not understand eg 'research project' so we defined them in the document.
There's no hard and fast way to include definitions of words and phrases in Easy Read documents. Our preference is to explain-as-you-go.
A glossary at the end of a document is fine and dandy but it doesn't reflect typical reading behaviour as we tend to read in a more linear fashion or browse a few pages at a time rather than flick from front to back.
Here's what Alisdair McNeill said about our work:
"IC Works and Camden People First provided an excellent overall service in producing a participant information sheet for people with intellectual disability to be recruited into a medical research project.
They spent a considerable amount of time seeking to understand what my requirements were and spent a lot of time refining the wording and design of the leaflet in consultation with me. The work was completed promptly and to a very high design standard."
We subsequently produced an Easy Read version of TfL's Equality Action Plan 2016-2020 which was a much bigger undertaking. We'll tell you more about that in a future blog.