Turn an AI Draft into an Accessible Plain-Language Version

AI-assisted practical guide. Examples are hypothetical; proposed workflows are editorial suggestions.

A plain-language revision should help readers complete the task the article was written for. Begin with that task: finding a date, following a procedure, understanding a distinction, or deciding which information is still missing. Simplifying prose is useful only if the important meaning survives.

Revise one layer at a time

Shorten long sentences, explain necessary terms where they first appear, and give links descriptive labels. Replace vague references such as “the above” with the actual subject. Use headings that tell readers what the following section helps them do.

Compare a fictional instruction

Suppose a draft says, “Upon completion of verification, effectuate submission.” A clearer version could be, “Check the form, then submit it.” But if verification originally required an independent reviewer, that requirement must remain. A shorter sentence that removes the reviewer changes the procedure instead of merely explaining it.

Keep original and revised versions available while checking names, quantities, exceptions, and warnings that matter to the task. Ask a reader to explain the next action in their own words.

Inspect the published experience

Check whether headings, lists, links, and examples remain understandable in the final page. Prose review alone does not establish that a whole website meets an accessibility standard. Record the improvements actually made and the checks actually performed. Leave unresolved interaction or format issues visible so a clearer article does not conceal barriers elsewhere in the experience.

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