Re: reading levels in WCAG: not aligned with the ISO plain language standard

Sorry for the late reply, but I'd be happy and interested to discuss in 
more detail what we could do in WCAG 2.x here.

Thanks,

Patrick

On 31/03/2026 11:18, Kevin White wrote:
> Hi Gael,
> 
> Thank you for bringing up this point. I have CC’d this to the archived 
> mailing list for comments regarding WCAG and other AGWG maintained 
> resources.
> 
> You may also wish to raise specific issues related to this topic within 
> the WCAG2 repo <https://github.com/w3c/wcag/issues>.
> 
> The main group that deals with the maintenance of WCAG 2 is the WCAG 2 
> Backlog Task Force <https://www.w3.org/groups/tf/wcag2x-backlog/>. I 
> have CC’d the group facilitators and staff contact.
> 
> As one of the liaisons with ISO, I would be happy to explore the scope 
> of any meeting in the first instance.
> 
> Thanks
> 
> Kevin
> 
> Accessibility Guidelines Team Contact
> Senior Principal Accessibility Specialist
> W3C
> 
>> On 27 Mar 2026, at 13:42, G. Spivak <gspivak@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Hi there.
>>
>> I'm not sure if this is the right email address to ask about working 
>> this out with WCAG. If not, can you please point me in the 
>> right direction?
>>
>> I'm wondering if there is a possibility of the WCAG drafting team 
>> discussing its guidance on reading levels <https://www.w3.org/TR/ 
>> WCAG22/#reading-level> with the people who wrote the ISO plain 
>> language standard <https://www.iso.org/standard/78907.html>. So that 
>> we can align the clear writing part of WCAG with the plain language 
>> standard.
>>
>> Starting points:
>> - a blog post <https://nos-langues.canada.ca/en/blogue-blog/ 
>> readability-formulas-eng> I wrote on the issues with readability formulas
>> - an analysis of the ISO plain language standard <https:// 
>> www.iplfederation.org/word-choice/> that shows only 7% of it is even 
>> about words
>>
>> If this is of interest, but we should do it through ISO, I can put you 
>> in touch with the convener of the ISO working group that drafts the 
>> plain language standards (we've done 4 parts to it and are working on 
>> Part 5).
>>
>> Gael
>>
>> -- 
>> Gael Spivak (she/elle)
>>
>>   * Editors Canada <https://www.editors.ca/> member and former president
>>   * Member of ISO Technical Committee 37 <https://www.iso.org/
>>     committee/48104.html> (working group 11: plain language)
>>   * Chair of the Localization and Implementation Committee (for the
>>     ISO plain language standard), International Plain Language
>>     Federation <http://iplfederation.org/>
>>     <http://iplfederation.org/>
>>   * PLAIN <http://plainlanguagenetwork.org/>member
>>   * Indigenous Editors Association <https://
>>     www.indigenouseditorsassociation.com/> non-Indigenous member
>>   * Language Portal of Canada <https://www.noslangues-
>>     ourlanguages.gc.ca/en/> ambassador
>>
>> Name pronunciation: Gale (like the wind) SPEE-vak
>> /
>> /
>> /I //would like to acknowledge that I live and work in the territory 
>> of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation, who have lived here for millennia./
>>
>>
> 

-- 
Patrick H. Lauke

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Received on Saturday, 6 June 2026 18:20:31 UTC