People First (Self Advocacy) Unit F173 Riverside Business Ctr, Haldane Place, London SW18 4UQ
Tel. 020 8874 1377 Email: general@peoplefirstltd.com Website: www.peoplefirstltd.com
People First’s Easy
Read Standards
1. Text formatting (type of
letters to use):
• Use Arial font, No smaller than
font size 18. This document is
the size of Arial Font 18
• Use bold to make something stand out
• Do not use underlining (underline = No)
• Do not use italics (Italics = No)
Photos and pictures
• Pictures may not be clear if printed badly.
• Using photos can be confusing, the
picture can lose meaning if a person
recognises a person in the photo
People First is run by people with learning difficulties campaigning for equal rights. We give information, training and advice.
People First (Self Advocacy) is a company limited by guarantee no. 03134827 and a registered charity no. 1057354

• Pictures with words: their should
be at least one picture per
paragraph, but if the paragraph is
talking about two different points
then you need two pictures
• The pictures should tell the story of
your document
Words
• Use words that are easy to understand;
sometimes you cannot change a word
so will need to include it in a glossary
and explain what it means.
• Use short sentences.
• Do not use hyphens (this symbol is a hyphen - )
or split a word across 2 lines or pages
• Often it is not enough to change one
word for another to make a sentence
accessible. In this case the whole
structure of the sentence should be
changed.
• An easy read document should include
all the information included in the non

easy read version. The easy read document
should not be a summary.
After a piece of work has been put into
Easy Read a person with learning
difficulties should check it to make sure
that it is accessible.
At People First we understand that
everybody has different access
needs and that for some people, to
fully understand an Easyread
document, they will need support.
So thinking about your target
audience should be your starting
point.
If you don’t go below
these standards then
everybody has the same
access to information
and an equal opportunity
to be included.