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

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.
> 
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>